


always you

by ohlittlebarchie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper Friendship, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Lowercase, Mutual Pining, Navy, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, Time Skips, barchie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 23,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlittlebarchie/pseuds/ohlittlebarchie
Summary: "it was always supposed to be betty and archie... it was like it was their destiny."a blonde ponytail and a ginger boy engage in an endless dance, a gentle waltz around each other. afraid to step into the light for fear of standing naked and vulnerable. buried feelings that threatened to shake loose.and thus they swayed, yearning, longing, but seemingly always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge/Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 129
Kudos: 221





	1. took you like a shot

**Author's Note:**

> ok so... i WROTE THIS BEFORE 4x18 had come out.. BEFORE i'd seen the childhood flashbacks and archie deciding.. well you'll see what he decides :) this takes place after 4x17 in riverdale canon.
> 
> childhood best friends unrequited love mutual pining jealousy buried feelings shaking loose forbidden showmance slowburn angst rainkiss endgame <3 
> 
> anyways this ship will be the death of me :') that is all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i also will put a song rec iffff you wanna listen to it while reading bc i usually get more into it with one, while writing at least :)
> 
> back to december by the legend herself miss taylor swift + sorry by halsey (slowed/reverb hits harder <3)

veronica simply sat there, face giving away no hint of emotion. then, a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. archie’s room had never felt so small to him.

“roni, say something.” the receding daylight cast shadows on her face, making her even harder to read.

“what do you want me to say, archie?” archie shifted uncomfortably.

“anything… i – i know i messed up. but… i think i’ve been fighting this a long time. what i feel for betty. what i’ve always felt for betty.”

“i know.”

“and that’s why it’s not fair to stay –” archie continued. “wait. you knew?”

“archiekins, i may be idealistic, but i’m not blind.” archie sat there helpless, frustrated, entirely at himself. “you didn’t have to hurt me like this to figure it out though,” she said.

“i know, i know, i’m an idiot… i just couldn’t... i didn’t think i could...” archie stopped there. “i’m so sorry, veronica.”

“goodbye, archie.”

and the last archie saw of her were her raven locks and lingering, sad eyes before she brushed away another tear and left.

***

archie andrews was a grade-a, world-class idiot. he’d hurt two incredible girls and lost betty, his best friend, probably forever. he scrunched his eyes tighter at the thought of that. it hurt too much, so he curled into himself in his dimly lit room, not wanting to chance a peek out his window.

when he had rejected her, he wasn’t lying, or trying to let her down easy. he _truly_ believed he wasn’t anywhere near good enough for her. _especially_ then – when he was with his _teacher_ for god’s sake.

the _perfect_ girl had practically offered herself up to him. she wanted him. _god_ , she had wanted him.

the way he wanted her right now.

archie pulled on his gloves, positioning his fists in front of the punching bag.

the contact of nylon on leather made a resounding _thwack_ , but he only felt his anger and frustration grow.

and he had screwed it up just like he had screwed everything else up in his life, instead pursuing a raven-haired beauty and getting caught up in the fast-paced, life-threatening mafia vendettas of her father. hurting everyone around him in the process.

and by the time he had realized his love for betty was something much deeper than he could even understand, she was happy. really happy. with someone else. 

_thwack!_

he really could have had it all – a future with betty, one where she’d divulge to him her deepest secrets, heal him, help him, support him, talk to him. she would come home to him every night and they would have the life _he never knew he had always wanted._

sweat glistened on his skin as he pulled off his gloves and hurled them onto his bed. archie had just about had enough of wallowing in his own loathing and self-pity. he quickly pulled on a shirt, leaving his bedroom window curtains closed, and ran downstairs, his mind going a million miles a minute.

 _‘there’s nothing left in riverdale for me anymore. senior year is when everyone parts ways anyway,’_ archie reminded himself as he made his way to his kitchen, where his mom was sure to be sipping coffee and reading. _‘it’ll be less painful to leave it behind.’_ betty had _loved_ him. but definitely not anymore.

and he certainly didn’t need the constant reminder of betty and jughead’s happy relationship shoved in his face.

“mom,” archie started hesitantly, approaching the small table where his mother was indeed seated.

“yes, honey,” mary replied, eyes still on the paper.

“about your friend… brooke rivers, from the naval academy. the recruiter.” mary looked up, not expecting that. “i... i want to do it.”

***

betty ran her fingers through her blond tresses in frustration, wanting to scream, but refraining from doing so knowing her mom was still downstairs.

 _why_ did archie have to come back and mess everything up again? he had already rejected her clear as day sophomore year. was he playing some twisted game? surely he just wanted to confuse her. play with her feelings, knowing she’d fall right back in the palm of his hand.

whatever it was, betty hated the way the red-headed boy was in her every mental image, putting her right back where she was two whole years ago. she scoffed. it might as well have been two lifetimes ago.

she had _wanted_ him. she really had. and he didn’t want her like that. it was that simple.

but now... maybe he did? (if that kiss was anything to go off of.)

 _perfect timing, andrews_ , she chuckled. archie always did tend to be a little slow.

betty looked over at the picture from homecoming, her flashing a bright smile in her silver dress, and a beanie-clad boy cracking a small, rare smile.

it’s not that she didn’t love jughead. she did love him. he was there for her in the throes of her rejection and subsequent turmoil with the black hood. jughead was there. but what she felt for archie was… visceral. almost primitive. she didn’t even have to think to fall back in. it felt as natural as breathing, or blinking, or walking to the andrews’ for dinner, or spending a sweltering july evening just talking to him in her backyard.

archie’s every conversation with her, every glance replayed in her mind like a broken cassette tape on loop. she was definitely overanalyzing, but his sad hazel eyes and words laced with guilt flashed almost tortuously.

_“of course i love you betty, but…”_

_“you are so perfect… i’ve never been good enough for you. i’ll never be good enough for you.”_

_“when i think of where i feel safest and most myself, i think of us in a both at pop’s –”  
“me too –”_

_“but a little part of me always thought…”_

_“i'm here for you, betty. i always have been.”_

and he always had.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> barchie has been the only thing on my mind the past 3 weeks (though it definitely feels like 3 lifetimes lol). ive watched enough edits and read enough posts and tweets to last that long. i've been so inspired and in love with their love it's sick and twisted. im MANIFESTING this storyline to be canon :)
> 
> i rlly hope you enjoy it as much as i did writing it! share and pls let me know what you think or if i should delete this and drop off the face of the planet hehe. no clue how many total chapters.
> 
> lots of love, <3  
> ohlittlebarchie xx.


	2. thought that i could chase you with a cold evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter hehe. hope you like !! <3 thank you to everyone reading :) DONT WORRY HAPPIER STUFF IS COMING I PROMISE
> 
> song recommendation: because i had you by shawn mendes (slowed) + once in a lifetime by 1d (slowed) + touch it by ariana grande (slowed) 
> 
> “How many times did we pass each other before we met? If only I’d known…. I would have searched for you endlessly. If only I’d found you before it was already too late.”  
> ― Ranata Suzuki

***

it had only been four days since he’d decided and told his mom he wanted to join the navy.

it still hadn’t sunk in. part of archie was screaming that he was making a mistake, the biggest mistake of his life. he was doing the exact same thing he always did – running when it got hard.

but a bigger part didn’t want to face it – face the hurt that would inevitably come from staying. _betty would never want him._

so archie stuffed all his belongings into suitcases, trying to pack away and compartmentalize the last 4 years, heck, the last 18 years.

his desk was pretty much cleared up, save for a few polaroids tacked up in a haphazard manner. he looked at one taken three summers ago. it was late july, and archie was captured mid-shot firing his water gun, betty shrieking, despite already being soaked. another, taken more recently, showcased him making a ridiculous face at the camera, as betty rolled her eyes, but still trying to hold back an endearing smile.

and from just last year, one of betty solo, a beautiful, real laugh for the camera after something silly archie had said to try to get her to smile. genuine and bright. that was the year he tried to get into photography. he had carried his little digital camera everywhere, and his primary subject? betty cooper. he tucked that one away in his bag, despite the fact that that probably wouldn’t help him forget her any easier.

_“no, archie,” she blushed. “let’s take one of both of us. it’s weird that it’s just me.” she tried to argue. betty was never one to want the spotlight._

_“no,” archie insisted, pulling the picture closer to his face to examine it. “betty, this is the best one i’ve taken!”_

_“all your other pictures are of grass and upside-down trees,” betty pouted. she reached for the picture, but archie held it above his head in an almost teasing way. to betty’s misfortune, archie towered over her, so her efforts were futile._

_archie bolted, betty shrieking and giggling as she chased him down their street._

_“i’ll get you, andrews!”_

archie scoffed. as if he could ever forget betty. she was seared into his brain.

the sun was beginning to set, as archie glanced at the clock. he continued throwing his stuff into a backpack, until all that was left was the montage of photographs above his desk.

archie chuckled despite himself, feeling himself relive the moment the polaroids were put up.

_“archie, your room looks like a prison cell!” an 11-year-old betty exclaimed, taking in the mostly empty and undecorated room judgingly._

_“that’s mean!”_

_“i mean, there’s no personality. no_ pizzazz. _you have to put up stuff to make this room yours. like personal stuff. posters, pictures, stuff you like.”_

 _“i guess i could do that… but that’s so much_ work _.” the preteen groaned. “and i don’t want my room looking all sentimental and girly.”_

_“giving your room a personal touch doesn’t make it girly.” betty rolled her eyes. “here, we can push this desk up against this wall and put up…”_

_a little archie smiled as he watched betty in her natural state, eyes lit up as she explained how they could transform his “drab, boring room” (her words) into something presentable._

_and so betty had gotten to work. she took the lead, helping archie pick photos, developing them, and staying over to tack them all up in what she deemed a respectable fashion._

everything always came back to betty cooper. it’s like she was laced into his every memory and experience, hints of her making themselves apparent when he least expected. she was an inescapable force, that blonde ponytail.

archie exhaled deeply, leaning against his bedroom wall, sliding down to the floor slowly. he remembered betty’s soft pink lips, yearned for the sensation, the electricity. archie had kissed his fair share of girls, and nobody felt like betty cooper.

he dared to venture further, imagining her soft, rosy skin and the perfect curves of her body, fitting flush against his own.

he felt incredibly guilty for even thinking it. his childhood friend, the always sweet, always innocent, untainted betty cooper. he _didn’t_ have that right – he could have, but he didn’t, and it was no one’s fault but his own.

but she wasn’t perfect, as he had claimed as he rejected her that fateful and tragic night. she was flawed, just like him, damaged and traumatized and a little dysfunctional. but that drew him towards her all the more now. they could _heal_ each other, be a little imperfect together.

archie shook his head. he was going there again. he rummaged through his dresser drawers, pushing past books and pens until he found the small jewelry box.

it was a harmless little thing – a marble, heart-shaped box that fit into the palm of his hand, encrusted with small fake rubies. and inside, a ring from a 7-year-old archie andrews who didn’t know any better. all he knew was that he wanted to entrust with betty a promise. and that’s all it was. a decade-old promise.

the question was _why did he keep it?_ it was a silly antique. archie picked up the tiny ring, examining it and smiling despite himself. he had _always_ loved betty. in a stupid, suppressed, buried deep kind of way. but a real way nonetheless.

archie shook his head. none of that mattered. because he messed it all up. which is why he was leaving – to start fresh. a clean slate.

he gave in, finally looking out his window at the vision that was betty cooper. his confidante. his neighbor. his best friend. his first and only real love.

she was reading something, eyebrows scrunched adorably. something squeezed in his chest painfully. archie tried to memorize the image, burn it into his brain, the last time he’d see her like this.

it really was always her.

***

betty was sick of it. she had been on this hill all week, and she’d probably die on this hill. her perpetual, repeating argument with herself pretty much went like this:

  * _maybe you still love archie.  
  
_
  * _even if you did, it doesn’t matter. he **rejected** you. does he need to tell you you’re perfect and some other excuses and make you cry in front of your house again?  
  
_
  * _but maybe he does like me now. he kissed me. feelings can change.  
  
_
  * _not that much, and not in just two years.  
  
_
  * _what if he’s always loved me but never realized it? or he buried it?  
  
_
  * _get over it. he’s never loved you, never will._



and so it went, starting back from the beginning every so often.

and of _course,_ that creeping thought… jughead.

it was too much, and betty tossed the box back in the dresser suddenly, as if it had burned her. she rushed downstairs, calling out to her mother that she’d be back by dinner, not giving alice a real chance to respond.

betty mounted her bicycle and started pedaling furiously, knowing exactly where she wanted to go despite not having been there in years. the crisp may air rushed past betty as she flew past houses, the riverdale register, the bennett’s mom-and-pop store. her muscle memory guided her to the edge of the clearing, where sure enough, the probably hundred-year-old oak stood as tall as ever.

she looked up, squinting and shading her eyes from the sunlight. she was back at the treehouse. back to their roots.

they’d marked their tree “the andrews and cooper corner” and inside, a board that read “property of betty cooper and archie andrews.” betty couldn’t help but grin at the memory of her painstakingly etching in the words as archie played hacky sack.

she stepped over discarded toys and forgotten art supplies and pulled back the overgrown ivy to reveal her own secret engraving. _a.a. + b.c. 4ever_ in a small heart. betty leaned back against the oak interior of the treehouse, inhaling the sharp scent of the wood and squeezing her eyes shut tightly. betty cooper’s heart was nothing if not stubborn.

instead of running, she allowed herself to think of archie’s lips. staring at them for several years, and then finally, feeling them envelop her own, on not one, not two, but three separate occasions. her eyes squeezed tighter as she felt the pang of guilt as jughead’s face flashed.

 _archie_ , she breathed in, immediately feeling her pace slow. he was her rock, her anchor, her safe place.

she remembered archie’s hands roaming her back, hovering near her chest as he embraced her tighter, the kiss warm and fiery and innocent and passionate all at the same. it wasn’t just a fantasy or nostalgia for a childhood friendship. she _ached_ for him in ways she couldn’t comprehend, in ways that her mother would probably reprimand her for.

betty felt the realization hit her like a truck.

she was _in love with archie_.

maybe she had never really stopped.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe sorry for the angst its my brand 
> 
> love you all, xx  
> ohlittlebarchie


	3. let a couple years water down how i'm feeling about you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW i had too much fun with this... this is what i've been building up to since the beginning! kind of the idea my story pivoted off of <3 it's a short one :(
> 
> song recs: almost is never enough by ariana grande + last kiss by taylor swift

betty felt the accumulated weight of 12 years of emotion and love and wistful longing and pining all at once. nothing else could have allowed her to bike back home in under three minutes.

she skidded to a halt, almost falling over, and threw her bike onto the grass. she sprinted furiously to the red door. she may have waited years for this moment, but she _had_ to see archie _now_. tell him. kiss him this very second. the urgency she felt was almost alarming, threatened to rip her apart at the seams.

“mrs. andrews!” she managed to get out, panting as the familiar face answered the door. betty really didn’t have time for pleasantries. “is archie here? i need to talk to him.”

“oh honey,” mary breathed, face falling. “he’s... he’s gone. he left yesterday. he really didn’t tell you?”

“gone where?” betty asked, processing nothing. _where did archie go? the center? at this time of day?_

“he… he enlisted. in the navy. oh sweetie, i really thought he had told you kids. he did an early departure to get settled in and start his service abroad so that – ”

betty’s brain blocked out anything mary was saying as her heart fell into her stomach.

no _._ _no, no, no, **no**._

there was no way. what was happening?

betty pushed past mrs. andrews and ran inside, up the stairs she had been up a million times into archie’s room. it was empty. betty shook her head, refusing to process. all she could feel was a crippling fear and sense of panic set in.

there was no way archie would just up and leave. forever. why would he do that? did he hate her? so much that he couldn’t even face her? tell her a proper goodbye after a lifetime of friendship? (and maybe more? unless she had imagined all that…)

and despite it all, the room stood pale and empty in front of her, almost laughing at her. it was as empty as the day they’d moved in, emptier than when she’d helped him redecorate in the fifth grade.

betty fell to her knees, finally letting out a choked cry. and then sobbing, the tears drenching her sleeves, the concentrated sorrow of 18 years of lost love. she cried until her sobs died down into short, pitiful whimpers. she cried until the sunlight filtered through the window indicating sunset, the rays casting light on a girl who sat on a boy’s abandoned bedroom floor alone.

a flash of white caught the corner of her eye, and had to chuckle through the tears still streaming down her face. of course archie would forget something in an empty room.

she grabbed the paper, scanning the hasty scribbles.

it was a... song? she inspected the lyrics, reading them over and over and over.

it was 100%, without a doubt intended for her. she was right – he _did_ love her. despite herself, despite the cruelty of their timing, she smiled. it was an unsung song of their love, a tragic thing, always at the wrong time in the wrong place. a piece of art written by her soulmate, her forever, for _her._

and that was how mary found her, betty curled into herself on the floor, desperately clutching the sheet music, the last remnant of a love that was never meant to be.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cannot believe you've stuck around this long but i'm so grateful. maybe i shouldn't have dropped my english major lol.
> 
> AND BEFORE YOU ATTACK ME im so sorry... i promise the happy ending is coming soon !! this ship is too beautiful and too close to my heart not to give it to them lol.


	4. and every time we talk

snow fell silently, gradually enveloping the small town like a soft, white blanket.

snow clung to naked branches, powdered the surface of riverdale, glistened in the retreating daylight.

a recently-graduated betty cooper rushed along in the blizzard, desperately trying to get to the warmth of pop’s diner before she lost all feeling in her fingers. or got hypothermia. (you could never be too wary.)

betty pulled her coat in tighter around her as another frigid gust of wind sent a chill down her spine.

she had come back to riverdale after finishing up at yale. connecticut was great, but something about this little town had called her back, beckoned to her the three years she’d stayed away. _besides,_ she had told her mom, _you can be an aspiring journalist anywhere._

it was time for her 4 o’clock vanilla milkshake, hence her venturing out into the blizzard, risking it all for a frozen confection. her mother had been more confused than anything – _why on god’s green earth would you want a cold milkshake in this snowstorm?_

betty had argued that the inside of _pop’s_ was warm. in reality, she just really missed pop tate and the quaint diner and the way it made riverdale… well, _riverdale._

betty quickened her pace as she saw the neon sign. she swung the door open, her spirit lifting at the ever-so-familiar jingle above her head. betty spotted _her_ booth, empty, and approached it gleefully. she nodded at pop tate, grinning at him as he served another table.

she settled in, exhaling happily as she felt herself defrost.

she mindlessly scanned the menu, which was really unnecessary, considering that even after three years she still had it memorized. and she always ordered the same thing anyway.

she drummed her fingers against the table impatiently after she had given her order. she looked up as the bell above the door tinkled, the sound reverberating throughout the small rustic diner.

betty froze at the familiar mop of red hair, the same broad shoulders and eyebrow scar. hazel eyes widened as he too realized what he was seeing was indeed real.

“betty cooper,” archie grinned, temporarily forgetting his heartache and how he was going to _explain himself out of the last 3 years._ “aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

before archie could register anything else, the blonde ran up and tackled him in a fierce, tight hug, knocking the boy back a little.

after she had held on a little too tight for a little too long, betty pulled back awkwardly, a bit red at her sudden affectionate outburst.

she took a moment to really look at him. he sported a dark blue jacket and several varying pins and badges. archie had obviously always been toned, but the navy seemed to have done him one better, which betty didn’t think was possible.

as if suddenly realizing, betty frowned, hitting archie’s shoulder forcefully for a girl of her height and build.

“ow! what was that for?” archie rubbed his upper arm. _what a baby,_ betty thought, rolling her eyes.

“for _leaving_ me for three years with absolutely no notice! you just up and left me without a word.” she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. _oh, boy, this should be good._

“i – i… i am so sorry betty,” archie said lowly. “it was such a spur of the moment decision. i was going through a lot... mentally and i didn’t want to hurt… uh, anyone.” he mumbled, choosing his words carefully. it was the truth. just an omitted version.

betty’s face softened. “that doesn’t explain why you couldn’t have said a thing... at least to me.”

“no, it doesn’t,” he agreed.

“i had to find out from your _mom_ ,” betty added, eyes darkening at the memory of that harrowing day.

“i’m so sorry. there’s nothing i could say that could ever make up for it. i never meant to hurt you. after everything that’d happened that year… i was really sparing _myself_ the hurt.” his voice dripped with regret, as his eyes refused to leave the floor.

betty understood. she wanted to stay mad, yell at him for leaving, not saying goodbye. but this was her best friend, and she just _couldn’t._ she remembered that nightmare of a year, and could feel the genuine remorse and pain in his expression.

“well, i can think of one way you could make it up to me…” betty finally sighed, holding back a small smile. archie looked up to meet her eyes hopefully.

“milkshake me,” she grinned. “your treat.”

archie grinned brightly. “you are too easy, betty cooper.”

***

laughing and talking with betty again felt as easy as getting back on a bicycle. a little shaky at first, but once they got into it, there was no stopping the duo. apparently betty had graduated from yale two semesters early (yup, gorgeous and smart), and was interning at the riverdale register before looking for something full-time. archie explained that his flight had landed this morning. he had finished up three years of service, and was planning on spending his time at the youth center, which he wanted to make a full-time gig. they both agreed that riverdale hadn’t changed a bit.

archie had thought three years would have some effect on erasing or at least _calming_ his feelings for her. nope. there they were, as strong and annoying as ever. he felt butterflies dancing around in his stomach as she giggled, the hairs on his arms standing on end as she licked some excess milkshake off the edge of her glass. _wow,_ he had it bad.

“ – and i said there was no way i was getting a buzzcut!” archie exclaimed, and betty threw her head back laughing.

“remember when i tried to cut your hair in 6th grade?” betty got out between laughs, archie getting a little lost in her emerald green eyes, which sparkled with mirth.

“my mom was mortified,” archie said. “i was convinced she’d never let us hang out again. that would have been _hell._ ”

archie saw a look of pain flash across betty’s face – quick, imperceptible if you didn’t know betty as well as archie did.

of course she knew. she had _been_ in that hell the past three years – except she had no idea what she’d done to make him leave.

so maybe this wasn’t _as_ smooth as archie had initially though. but that was to be expected. all he could do was be there for her again, and never leave her like that. archie was determined – he’d do whatever it took to rebuild their friendship.

but he couldn’t help himself from wondering, couldn’t stop himself from asking –

“so… how’s jughead?”

betty’s face fell a bit, but she seemed to answer nonchalantly. “oh, he’s fine. we had broken it off the summer of senior year of high school.”

“oh.”

“yeah. he got busy with serpent stuff and we were going to different schools anyway and it’s not like high school couples have to stay together forever,” betty babbled nervously.

that was a far-simplified, sugarcoated explanation of what had really went down with jughead, who had sensed her feelings for archie resurfacing and was understandably upset. it wasn’t a pretty scene.

archie nodded, allowing her to leave it at that.

the pair chatted some more, lighthearted stuff. in some ways, it was like archie had never left, as they caught each other up on all they’d missed.

***

betty thought it as they exited pop’s, thought it as archie offered her his jacket, thought it as they walked home together.

_did he still love her?_

betty didn’t know if it was naïve to think archie still liked, much less loved her after three whole years away.

_could he still love her?_

sure, going off the song, it seemed like he had loved her at the end of high school... but now they were real adults that had spent three years apart. surely feelings could change.

and so she continued to mentally debate it even as they talked.

what she had with archie now was _good._ it was nice, and safe, and comfortable. they were getting back to a good place in their relationship. the last thing she wanted was to mess that up, or make it awkward, or lose him again. so she’d be content with the way things were. if anything, she could wait and see how things played out naturally. he could always make the first move (if she was lucky) and then she wouldn’t have to risk anything.

part of betty felt like what she was doing was cowardly and probably dumb. but a bigger part was too scared and too traumatized to do anything more. she convinced herself she was doing this because having archie in her life, in whatever way possible, was more important than anything.

and so this was what she decided on as archie smiled and waved. his jacket rose just the tiniest bit, exposing the creamy skin of his flawlessly toned stomach. betty inhaled sharply.

_this is what we’re deciding, betty._

and they thus parted ways to their adjacent houses.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so archie seems to be struggling with how he left betty (understandably). and so we commence into the rebuilding friendship phase :)
> 
> im sorry but i couldn't just end it there ! :) more bound-to-be agonizingly cute chapters to come hehe
> 
> let me know what you thought of this one in the comments or on twitter where i'm @whyislukemylife !!! feel free to share if you don't hate it <33


	5. every single word builds up to this moment

the thing about everyone from riverdale is they always found their way back to riverdale somehow. it was like a magnet for its expatriates. no matter how you tried to stay away, in some way, you always found yourself back in the little hometown.

and thus was the case for cheryl blossom, who after a few semesters abroad in france had decided to come back to riverdale to test the waters for her own new start-up business, separate from blossom maple farms. and for toni, and kevin, and moose, and reggie.

some had never left riverdale, (see: jughead, sweet pea, fangs) either opting to attend riverdale community college, or pursue more non-traditional paths after high school. some were picking up odd jobs or trying to start their own businesses.

even veronica lodge, who had always seemed to be destined for places much bigger than riverdale, claimed to be back for a “transitional period of her life” where she wanted to “take a hiatus before jumping into the next venture.”

in whatever way, everyone was experimenting with their futures. so really the whole gang was there when cheryl decided to throw a blowout reunion bash. and whatever for? well, a blossom never really needed a reason, besides to see what everyone was up to and stir up some chaos.

betty could hear the loud, thumping bass even as she approached the rebuilt thornhill. various colors of light flashed (did this girl install strobe lights for a _party_?), and the lawn was littered with empty red solo cups and streamers.

archie had driven her here in his jalopy (no, it didn’t _mean_ anything, they were coming from the same place and it only made sense). the real surprise was that archie’s jalopy was _still running_. to be fair, it did creak and sputter the whole way, archie having to repeatedly assure a frantic betty they would make it to the party in one piece.

a round of whoops and screams came from inside the mansion. betty adjusted the straps of her party dress and pulled down her skirt, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously.

as soon as betty and archie entered, she saw kevin, who spotted the duo apparently at the same time. kevin’s eyes widened, and then he proceeded to smirk and waggle his eyebrows suggestively.

 _no, no, no._ betty thought, _stupid kevin. of course he’d get the wrong idea._

archie parted ways with her, telling her he was gonna go catch up with some ex-bulldogs, and betty made her way towards kevin.

“soooo….” kevin dragged out, grinning wickedly. “you finally lassoed the ginger bull.”

betty made a show of gagging at kevin’s choice of words. “ugh, kevin, no. we’re literally just _friends_ again _.”_

“not for long,” kevin sing-songed. “you _obviously_ are still in love with him,” kevin said.

betty shushed him, quickly looking over at archie to ensure he didn’t hear. “kevin, i can’t think like that! i… i don’t know where he stands.” betty felt warm as she saw archie laugh at something reggie had said.

“what do you mean? he wrote a freakin’ _love ballad_ for you. need i remind you of the lyrics, betty cooper?”

“it’s not that simple kevin – ”

“but what if it is?”

“– that was a lifetime ago and feelings can change. if he does still like me, he can always tell me.”

“if anything, _he’s_ the one in the dark.” kevin added. betty fiddled with her hands, not knowing what to do with them. she didn’t seem to want to say anything else.

kevin rolled his eyes, mumbling something like _these two lovebirds have been circling around each other for ages,_ and _it’ll be the death of me._

“how’s julliard?” betty asked, curious as to how the theater geek was enjoying the performing arts school.

“oh, it’s an actor’s dream, betty.”

after getting a synopsis of kevin’s semester and the crazy r.a. he had, betty excused herself from her friend, seeing veronica waving enthusiastically at her.

“v!” betty exclaimed.

“b!” she replied with equal fervor, embracing the blonde.

“you look _hot_.” roni gushed, pulling back and giving her an appreciative once-over. betty couldn’t help but blush and roll her eyes.

“look who’s talking.”

“no, really. archie andrews is a lucky boy.” she smirked.

betty inwardly groaned. actually, no, she outwardly groaned, loudly and dramatically.

“don’t tell me after 4 years that boy still hasn’t gotten with you,” roni said disbelievingly.

“can we talk about.. anything else, actually?” betty shifted uncomfortably. veronica sensed betty’s uneasiness and conceded.

“drink?” roni offered betty a glass of amber liquor. betty shook her head no.

“archie drove us here so the deal is i have to drive back.”

veronica nodded and began, “so, i’ve started a new brand of designer outfits for new york fashion week.”

betty raised her eyebrows, impressed. “aren’t you a little globe-trotter?”

roni smiled, never one to turn down a compliment. “the latest line is high-end swimwear, but seeing the weather here is going to be cold and miserable for at least four months, i don’t see any hope of debuting one here,” she pouted.

betty laughed aloud. “oh, roni.”

“and you… how is the writing going? any journalism opportunities in this little town?”

“working at the register is definitely good experience, and i’ll go from there. i’m kind of playing it by ear.”

veronica nodded thoughtfully, swirling the liquid around in the glass. “i also… met someone in new york. been talking to them for a while.”

betty gasped, grinning and moving closer. “ooh, a lover for miss lodge? do tell,”

“it’s not that serious yet,” veronica rolled her eyes, obviously holding back a smile. “we’ve only been on a few dates. it’s hard squeezing them in with all the meetings and press conferences. um… she’s a model, and her work schedule is pretty grueling, too.” she studied betty’s face for a reaction.

betty beamed. “oh my god, roni! that’s so amazing!”

“thanks,” roni smiled shyly. “she’s super sweet but also a bit closed off and hard to read sometimes.”

“elite socialite businesswoman veronica lodge is overworked and struggling to find her soulmate in the city that never sleeps. will she be able to let love into her heart?” betty narrated dramatically, making a show of swooning.

roni laughed, “ugh, you’re so annoying. i’ve missed you b.”

betty softened. “i’ve missed you too, v.”

josie came up, feigning anger at veronica for not having caught up with her. betty chuckled, “i’ll let you two get to it, i’m just gonna head out back.”

betty grabbed a water from the cooler and stepped out onto the patio, where a few of the ex-bulldogs had thrown off their clothes and catapulted into the pool.

blue-green light reflected off the pool, casting everything in its vicinity in the ethereal color. betty kicked her heels off and sat down near the edge of the pool, wishing she had worn something warmer than her low-cut little black dress as a cold breeze passed. she dangled her feet, dipping her toe into the ice-cold water, pulling back immediately and shivering. betty leaned back, looking up at the cloudless, starry night sky. she thought about everything that had happened, but smiled despite it all.

she mindlessly glanced behind her through the glass door, where the party was still going strong, some other indistinguishable electro-dance song playing now. her eyes wandered and she saw archie alarmingly close to a tall, lanky brunette. actually, he was… kissing her? betty’s eyes widened, and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. she quickly looked away, picking up her heels and all but running to the side door.

“betty, what are you –” veronica began.

“actually, roni, i think i’ll take that drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rlly enjoyed writing v and b's interaction as well as kevin :) it's fun to change the scene a lil and i HAD to write a high-school-like party even though they're not in high school hehe <33 also making bi-veronica canon !! share and all that fun stuff !! :) love you xx.


	6. and i gotta convince myself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1K?!?! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. THANK YOU!! <3 i literally cry at the thought of the absolute legends reading, commenting, sharing and talking abt this train wreck. lol you should have seen me screaming it was embarrassing. i def don't deserve it. thank you so much. again. don't think i can ever say it enough hehe. that said here is my favorite chapter i've written to date :)
> 
> (also i keep forgetting to do the song recs {don't know if anyone is even listening hehe} but the one for this chapter is love story (slowed) by taylor swift + back to you by selena gomez which i don't know how i forgot since every lyric of that song is literally written FOR barchie)

going to a party hosted by cheryl blossom brought back uncomfortable memories of sophomore year. ones where archie saw betty’s agonized face and did reckless things with a certain veronica lodge in the closet.

but he had grown, at least he believed so, and this party wouldn't be like that.

betty had worn this stunning black dress that made it really hard not to stare at her and crash into something. (that _really_ would have spelled the end of his jalopy.) in a rare move, she had let her hair down, the blonde locks cascading over her shoulder.

“y-your hair looks nice out.” archie tried as she got into the car. _god_ , what was he, a middle schooler with a crush?

“thanks, arch.” betty blushed but smiled brightly back at him. his spine tingled at her calling him arch again. _pathetic._

it felt great to see everyone from high school (well, not _everyone_ ) and joke around with his fellow bulldogs. you could say what you wanted about cheryl blossom, but the girl _knew_ how to throw a party.

archie danced and mingled with a few people inside, catching up with some old friends and acquaintances, and also being introduced to a few new people.

“sasha,” a brunette held out her hand, archie taking it with a warm smile. she was josh kennedy’s sister.

“archie.” he replied. "if you’re anything like josh, you must have a killer off-tackle.” archie teased.

josh howled, “she wishes. the girl’s got two left feet.”

sasha giggled and shook her head no. “i usually leave the sports plays to my brother.”

“she could never keep up. hey, i see trey, so i’ll catch up with you guys later,” josh said, and the two nodded in response.

apparently sasha was a public relations major, in riverdale for just a few weeks with her family until she went back to denver.

“and you? i’m guessing you’re not a professional football player.”

“hardly,” archie chuckled. “uh, yeah, i enlisted right after high school.”

“ooh, a military man,” she cooed, pushing archie’s chest playfully.

“yeah.” archie rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what else to say.

“must be lonely in the navy.” she said absent-mindedly, swirling her straw around in her drink, inching the slightest bit closer to an unaware archie.

“eh, sometimes, but we had these – ”

before archie could react, sasha’s lips were on his. archie’s eyes widened, suddenly frozen in place, not wanting to push her away. _what would he say? that he had a girlfriend? that definitely wasn’t true. that he had a best-friend-who-he’s-in-love-with-but-probably-doesn’t-feel-the-same-way-so-he’s-just-pathetically-friends-with?_

as soon as she pulled back, archie put both hands up in front of his chest, looking extremely flustered.

“oh my god.” sasha said, mortified.

“i’m so sorry if i gave you the wrong idea,” archie rambled. “you’re really great, sasha, i’m just not – ”

“no, no,” she insisted. “i’ll just disappear off the face of the planet now,” she ducked into the crowd, leaving archie’s head spinning.

***

a crowd had gathered around betty cooper, who was against all odds, on her 11th shot.

after she’d seen archie kiss… whoever that was, betty felt confusion, anger, and hurt swirling. she wasn’t _allowed_ to be mad at archie. he could kiss whoever the heck he wanted. it was a free country, and he didn’t owe her anything.

but most of all, betty felt an overwhelming desire to feel good. she was tired of all the complications and overthinking and walking on eggshells, afraid of treading some imaginary line. this was confirmation if it ever existed. archie’s feelings for her, if they were indeed ever real, were a thing of the definitive past.

“chug! chug! chug! chug! _chug_!” the group chanted, egging her on. betty tilted her head back to drink the last drop of vodka and whooped, raising her empty glass high as proof.

the crowd went wild, hooting and wolf-whistling. betty smiled and did a dramatic bow, wobbling and almost falling in her intoxicated state.

kevin and veronica stood hopelessly at the sidelines. this had clearly gotten out of hand, but every time they tried to intervene, betty mumbled angrily and pushed them away forcefully.

“go, cooper!” a bystander yelled. “ey, owen, didn’t think cooper had it in her. always thought she was kinda an uptight prick.”

archie overheard the comment, head swiveling back so quick he thought it’d fall off. _his_ cooper?

“ex _cuse_ me?”

the guy that was apparently owen smirked. “yeah, she’s up there right now. they’re trying to get her to strip on the pool table.”

archie wanted to ram the kid’s head into a wall, but he had to restrain himself, because something much, much more important called to him.

he ran up to the pool table, looking up at betty who was indeed, already climbing the table awkwardly in her stilettos. archie was fuming at everyone, but he had to push that aside for now.

“betty!” he called out.

“archie!” she brightened visibly. “c’mon up here, the wat-uh is fiiine,”

“betty, you need to come down from there,” he tried to be as forceful and stern as he could.

“don’t wanna,” she mumbled, waving archie off as if that would send him away.

“hey, andrews, don’t be such a square.” someone yelled out.

“you could get hurt, betty. come on, i’ll help you,” he insisted, reaching his arms up towards her.

“nooo,” she whined like a small child as archie carried her down bridal-style, people booing as their primary source of entertainment was taken.

the crowd quickly dispersed, looking for something else to amuse them as archie set betty down on the floor carefully.

“you’re such a killjoy, andrews,” betty mumbled, swaying ever so slightly. “no wonder you’re still single.”

 _ouch._ archie tried to ignore the sting, reminding himself this was just the vodka talking. “can you walk?” archie asked slowly, looking betty in the eyes to keep her attention.

betty pursed his lips adorably, pink and – _no, no, archie, **not** now._

“mhmm,” she nodded, but stumbled after a single step. archie sighed and grabbed her arm, bringing it around his shoulder. betty leaned against his chest, and archie could smell hints of vanilla and lavender amidst the overpowering scent of alcohol.

he led her up the stairs, looking for a vacant room. he opened the door to the first bedroom, and closed it abruptly, seeing a couple making out. fortunately, he had more luck with the second room, which was mercifully empty. he set the inebriated girl down on the twin bed.

“here, just uh – wait here. i read you shouldn’t be dehydrated when you’re drunk, so i’m just gonna run downstairs and grab you a water.”

thankfully, she was still where he’d left her when he got back, a water bottle in each hand.

she accepted the water, gulping it down in a minute. she smiled at archie.

“you’re so beautiful, aw-chieeee,” she drawled out the last syllable of his name, reaching out to caress his jaw.

archie chuckled. “yeah thanks,” he sat next to her on the bed, not foreseeing himself being able to leave for a while.

betty suddenly looked extremely queasy and held her hand over her mouth, darting towards the bathroom. archie hurriedly followed, crouching down onto the floor with her and holding her hair back as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. he rubbed soothing circles on her back, asking her if she was okay ever so often.

after she had rinsed out her mouth, betty stumbled back to the bedroom and unceremoniously plopped herself face-down onto the bed.

“why did you kiss her?” she asked, voice muffled.

archie scrunched his eyebrows. “kiss who?”

betty turned over, pulling herself up and frowning adorably.

“the girl.” _ah, yes, betty, very descriptive._ “just before?”

archie’s eyes widened in understanding. “oh. that was an accident.” _why did betty care about that?_

“how do you kiss someone on accident?” she drawled. archie had never seen her this drunk. actually, he had never seen her drunk at all. growing up with the mother she grew up with, he’d seen her tipsy at worst.

“i’ll explain it to you when you’re sober,” he promised.

betty lay down, pulling the covers over herself and snuggling deeper.

“i’m tired.” she said.

“i know.” archie replied.

“can you sing me a song?” she asked innocently, eyes fluttering. oh yeah, she was _hammered._

“betty…” he started, but unable to come up with a valid excuse. he climbed over betty to the side of the bed that was pushed up against the wall, leaning back against the headboard and making himself more comfortable. he resignedly began, a slow, soft melody.

“that was really pretty. i wish you sang more.” she said as soon as he finished. archie didn’t reply but made a mental note for later.

“can you stay here tonight with me?” betty added after a beat.

“aw, betty, no. we can’t stay in cheryl’s house.” archie reasoned. “besides, weren’t you the one that promised to drive us back?” he smirked.

betty gritted her teeth guiltily.

“don’t worry, i won’t hold you to that.” he reassured her, laughing. archie turned to her, so close now that he could feel her breath fanning his face.

“i like your laugh.” betty mumbled drunkenly.

archie blushed. “thanks. you’re awfully affectionate when you’re drunk.”

a comfortable silence enveloped the two, archie offhandedly looking out the window at a group of guys playing beer pong on the lawn.

“i love you, arch,” betty’s timid, wobbly voice cut through the silence.

archie’s heart stopped in his chest as he quickly sat up. _she’s drunk out of her mind,_ _she’s drunk out of her mind, she’s drunk out of her mind._

“uh, i love you too, betty.” he said softly, dismissing it as a casual friend i-love-you.

“no, i _reaallly_ love you,” she insisted. “and i don’t know if i can ever forgive you for leaving me for the navy without saying goodbye.”

something thud unbearably in archie’s chest, his body feeling warm all over.

“betty, i…” but the girl was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mwahahahahaha. >:)
> 
> you put two ppl in love in a bunch of cute situations, and smth is bound to happen eventually hehe.
> 
> DRUNK BETTY WAS SO FUN TO WRITE.
> 
> lots of love !  
> ohlittlebarchie xx.


	7. i don't want it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short one :)

betty slowly opened her eyes, blinking and trying to get them to adjust to the light. she felt groggy and disoriented, and a throbbing headache was forming between her eyes. _why was the sun so bright?_

she took in her surroundings through bleary eyes. a nirvana poster. a guitar hung on the wall. a varsity jacket, among other clothes, in a pile on the floor.

betty jolted upright. _woah woah woah, definitely, too fast,_ she thought, suddenly light-headed and a bit dizzy.

_she was in archie’s room._

betty was internally panicking.

she rubbed her eyes with the soft cotton of her sleeve, and pulling her arm back, saw grey material, _definitely_ not the dress she had worn the previous night. betty looked down at herself.

oh my **_god_** she was wearing archie’s hoodie, _this was not a drill, this was not a drill._

betty threw off the covers. and his sweatpants.

now she was _ex_ ternally panicking.

it took everything betty had not to pass out (that could have also been the lingering effects of the alcohol). her bare feet padded across the carpet as she hesitantly made her way downstairs. the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs wafted towards her from the living room, indicating someone was up.

“betty!” mary greeted brightly. a little _too_ brightly considering how early it was. “quite a night you had.”

betty flushed, not trusting herself to speak.

“archie’s just out back.”

betty nodded wordlessly and headed towards the patio, where archie was absent-mindedly strumming his guitar on the grass. it had been a while since betty had seen him do that. he was seemingly faraway, staring at some distant point in the sky.

“hey,” she said, timidly, approaching him and leaning against the glass door.

archie perked up, looking back at betty standing in the doorway.

“morning, sleepyhead.” he grinned, setting down his guitar next to him.

“don’t even,” she rolled her eyes. “what did i even do last night?”

“well, let’s see. how much do you remember?”

“little to nothing. most of it is a blur. i remember bits like… uh – ” she did _not_ have to mention seeing the kiss, because that would inevitably bring up questions as to why she decided to get blackout-drunk after seeing it. “– talking to kevin and veronica and then deciding to have a few drinks.”

“oh, you had more than a few,” archie snickered.

“what did i _say_?” betty whined, covering her face in her hands.

“oh, you just divulged your deepest, darkest secrets to me.” archie said casually.

betty peeked through her fingers. “that’s not funny, andrews.”

“well,” archie started. “you did try to get on top a pool table to presumably take your clothes off for riverdale’s entire ex-student body.”

betty looked mortified.

“but don’t worry, i stopped you,” archie reassured her.

“my knight in shining armor,” she quipped, walking over to sit next to archie on the grass.

“and how did i get in this sweatshirt?” betty had to ask.

archie turned beet red. “t-that wasn’t me, i swear! i just brought you here because i figured i couldn’t exactly take you to mrs. cooper at that time or in that condition, and i asked my mom to help you change and only because your dress was kinda covered in puke but i really just helped bring you up the stairs – ”

“it’s fine, archie,” betty giggled, putting an end to the poor boy’s rambling. her face softened, suddenly turning serious. “thank you.”

“ah, it was no big.”

“no, really. i truly appreciate it,” betty said, suddenly wrapping the ginger in a tight hug. archie was a little taken aback, but hugged back with equal fervor.

“my head is pounding,” betty complained after pulling away, rubbing her temples.

“i have just the thing,” archie smiled. “the official andrews hangover miracle cure. patent pending.”

“oh _no_. is that the one with the kale and ginger?” betty groaned, sticking her tongue out in a disgusted expression. “from junior year?”

“do you wanna feel better or not, cooper?”

“i think i’d rather black out again.” betty said emphatically.

“you’re _impossible._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've noticed i've renamed the chapters to each be a line from selena's back to you :) let me know if you hate it bc i was torn btwn a few songs hehe. might change it
> 
> also upon reading this my sister said the characters are a biiiit ooc. i kinda agree but i feel like it feels ooc for rvd bc they've both been so wrapped up in their current so's for 3 seasons. even for 4x17 and 4x18, the way they acted feels ooc but only bc the writers haven't shown us b and a explicitly picking each other. it's always been more subtle :) i was going for a betty/archie s1 vibe - more lighthearted and to their roots, and also playing with their dynamic as adults. lmk what you think!!
> 
> pls shareeee and comment love youuuu so much <333


	8. even though i do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song rec (which i keep forgetting): lover by taylor swift (slowed)

winter in riverdale melted into spring, fresh grass taking the place of layers of frost. once bare trees sported their first signs of green, signaling a sort of rebirth.

archie wasted no time in getting back at it, his feet pounding against pavement, calves burning. sweat glistened on his bare torso as he rounded the cul-de-sac. he pumped his legs until he was practically flying, adrenaline the only thing sending him forward at that point.

morning runs were archie’s favorite. something about being able to break a sweat and clear his mind at the beginning of the day was so enticing. it felt like it was before the world had really woken up. riverdale had a calm, peaceful aura to it that it never did at any other time. it was soundless – tranquil.

archie finally reached his own house and decided to call it quits, heading inside. he dashed upstairs and into his room, stripping off his shorts and hopping into the shower.

he felt the hot water run over his body, instantly relaxing his tense muscles. archie exhaled deeply, the steam inexplicably soothing as he scrubbed. he turned off the water, grabbing a towel and stepping out into the room.

to meet a _very_ flustered betty cooper, who, so stunned by the situation stood frozen like a deer in headlights. archie instantly turned deep crimson, never having wrapped a towel around the lower half of his torso so fast.

betty let out a sound that could only be described as a squeak, hurriedly stepping back. unfortunately, in her haste, she failed to see the pile of laundry that always graced archie andrews’ bedroom floor. she ever-so-graciously tripped, extending the agonizing humiliation. she frantically attempted to scramble to her feet.

finally, after what seemed like 20 years (though it couldn’t have been more than 20 seconds), betty had all but sprinted out of the room. archie closed the door and leaned against it, locking it and throwing on clothes in record time.

archie descended the steps hesitantly, seeing betty staring at a point on the wall in shock.

“hey,”

“um, hey,” betty replied tentatively.

he had to address the elephant in the room. “you… um… you didn’t see anything, did you?” he burned red even as he asked the question.

“i – i don’t… think so?”

“what do you mean, you don’t think so?!”

“i’m not sure if i saw anything!”

“ _how could you not be sure?_ ”

“it happened so quick, my mind sort of went blank! it was kinda a blur.”

archie waved his arms. “actually, it’s fine, never mind.”

“i’m sorry for walking in.” betty blushed, still refusing to meet archie’s gaze.

“it… it’s cool.”

the two sat in an unbearably awkward silence, unsure of how to appropriately move onto… _anything else_.

“well, um… i came to help you with the cupcakes. for the bake sale for the youth center.”

“oh, right. i, uh, don’t have any of the ingredients.” archie admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

betty pointed presumptuously as the collection of supplies she had brought, arranged neatly on the countertop.

“have you ever known me not to be prepared, arch?”

archie grinned. “okay then, let’s start!”

***

the two pulled all the ingredients out – anything in an attempt to forget the mortifying incident that had just passed.

betty as always, wanted to be methodical, but archie was already pouring sugar and eggs out haphazardly.

“no, archie,” she scolded. “you have to measure it out.”

“the ratios look about right,” he shrugged. betty shook her head.

“here, you take this bowl,” she said, handing him a large red one. archie dumped the flour out into the bowl all at once, a huge cloud of it rising up. betty gasped and coughed, flour now all over her face and top.

“archie!”

“oh my god, betty, i’m so sorry!” he exclaimed – but he was laughing, which made betty think he wasn’t really _that_ sorry.

betty pursed her lips, digging her hands into her own bowl –

“oh my god betty, your hands. i thought you said that was unsanitary last -”

– and launching flour back at archie, right in his face.

“ _oh_ , this means war, cooper,” archie said wickedly, arming himself with the entire bag of flour.

betty shrieked, running to the opposite side of the kitchen island. “that’s not fair! you’re not allowed to have a monopoly on the ammunition.”

“all’s fair in love and war,” archie shrugged, and then proceeded to unleash a torrent of flour on a poor, unarmed betty cooper. he was ruthless, even getting some of her finished batter and slathering it all over her face and neck.

somehow they ended up on the floor, archie pinning either of betty’s arms to the ground.

“say you surrender!” he demanded.

“okay, okay! i’m sorry! i surrender.” she laughed.

“i don’t feel like you mean it!”

“show a little mercy, andrews,”

“i show no mercy in food fights,” he claimed. “now say i’m a better baker.”

“you want me to lie to you?”

“say i’m a better baker,” he insisted. “unless you want the rest of the batter down your shirt.”

“you wouldn’t.” she gasped.

“try me.”

“fine,” betty rolled her eyes. “you’re… a better… baker,” she said through gritted teeth, as though it physically pained her.

“was that so hard?” he grinned victoriously, relinquishing his grasp on her and offering his hand to help her up.

betty scowled, getting up and dusting off her pants, which did very little. “remind me never to offer to help you with anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> am i using these chapters that don’t directly drive the plot to write fluff that should be one-shots? why yes, yes i am >:)


	9. you can break my heart in two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song rec: heather by conan gray

betty never did return that sweatshirt.

the two established a sort of routine, re-embedding themselves in each other’s lives. re-intertwining.

movie nights, babysitting polly’s twins, helping at the center, archie distracting her as she tried to write pieces for the register.

in some ways she felt like she was living the same life as before, a sort of beautiful déjà vu. in every iteration, it was the two of them, over and over, blonde and ginger, writer and fighter, archie and betty. it seemed like she was meant to spend her every life with this red-headed idiot.

until she remembered she wasn’t.

and she kept reminding herself. but, _oh,_ how badly she wanted what she could not have.

they talked about everything, but she never breached his dating life. the girl he had kissed at the party. she wondered if they’d been on any dates. and if she really hated herself, if they’d ever slept together. she had to stop herself from imagining archie with her, under her sheets, moaning _her_ name. never having seen it, betty filled in the details of her face. thick lashes, sculpted cheekbones, full lips.

there was a reason betty was a writer. her imagination was about as overactive as it got.

“- so b, i’m planning on modeling that piece.”

betty snapped back to reality. “i’m so sorry, v. i, um, wasn’t listening.”

veronica sighed. “i _know_ you don’t like to talk about it, b, but you _have_ to. it’s archie, isn’t it?”

“roni, i can’t –”

“it’s _physically paining me_ at this point. you two have given up everything for each other. you’re head over _heels_ for each other.”

betty shook her head. “that’s what i thought, v. it’s what i hoped for. but he’s moved on. you haven’t seen what i’ve seen, and you don’t know him the way i do.”

“did he tell you he has a girlfriend?”

“well, no, but –”

“then, _he doesn’t._ there’s literally no reason for you two not to be together except your incredibly bad communication and timing.”

betty exhaled, still unsure.

“if by summer, you don’t tell him, i will.”

***

archie felt like he was falling back into a comfortable pattern. like they had found their groove.

he was almost at a breakthrough in raising funds for the youth center, he’d reconnected with one of his friends from the navy, and he had moved up a weight class.

archie looked over at betty as he drove – they were checking out a new café that had just opened. she was talking lively about this breed of dog she wanted to get, and he felt his heart swell.

he was gonna do it.

finally. he was terrified. life had shown him his fair share of fear. the murder of his classmates. the black hood. the gargoyle king. yet, something about the thought of betty rejecting him and hating him and never wanting anything to do with him still made his blood run cold.

but being in love with her and not knowing had to be worse.

the two settled into a booth. archie took in the café. it had an antique feel, a single lightbulb hung above every table and ivy plastered along brick walls. the floors were a mahogany wood and a chalkboard up front declared the day’s specials. it smelled of cedar and cinnamon and coffee, of course. the ambience was quiet and rustic – overall, he thought it was super cool. betty agreed, but said nothing could beat pop’s. archie couldn’t say she was wrong.

archie tried to quell his nerves as betty said she’d be back in a minute, and just had to run to the bathroom. he took deep breaths, drumming his fingers on the table.

he saw betty approaching, accompanied by a brown-haired guy who seemed to be about their age.

“archie,” she said breathlessly. “you wouldn’t believe who i bumped into on my way back!”

archie furrowed his brows in response.

“this is justin,” betty gestured towards the boy, who smiled politely and waved in accordance.

“i’m justin,” he repeated and chuckled nervously.

“we, um... ah, this is awkward... have been on a few dates.”

archie blanched, not having expected that information.

“we both played tennis at yale, and we had some mutual friends –”

archie had kind of tuned out what betty was saying at that point. she was _dating_ this guy? why wouldn’t she tell him? how long had it been? a thousand questions swirled around in his head.

“ah, i didn’t mean to crash your guys’ meet-up, i’ll just take my latte and go,” he smiled, leaving a kiss on betty’s cheek and offering his hand to archie, who took a second too long to shake out of his daze and fake a smile in return.

“it was nice meeting you, archie,”

“uh, you too, justin.”

well, he certainly couldn’t confess his love for her now…

***

betty really didn’t know why she didn’t tell archie about justin.

well, that was a lie. she knew why.

archie had been with other people. and he had never told her. and maybe she wanted archie to feel the way she did, at least a little (even though he wouldn’t since he probably didn’t like her like that).

besides she didn’t need archie’s permission. her and justin had hit it off. he was nice enough, sweet, funny. checked all the boxes. _liked her,_ for one. maybe she owed it to herself to have a little fun. she _deserved_ a drama-free relationship after so long.

at least these were all the excuses she told herself as she felt guilt eating away at her. no matter what she told herself, she couldn’t shake the hurt and shocked expression on archie’s face when she sprung justin on him, who she honestly was not expecting to see at the café. she should have told archie, at least as her friend. who was she kidding, her _best_ friend.

they didn’t talk about him much after. it always got a little awkward or a little quiet when he came up, like when he came to pick betty up for a date or called.

_she had to move on._

life wasn’t radically different either. they were still friends, best friends. it just didn’t feel the same.


	10. but when it heals it beats for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so so sorry. for a sec i had writers' block but more than anything i was just going through a period where i was reading other stuff and just feeling insecure and awful abt myself and my writing lol. 
> 
> i was reading my first few chapters and just HATING the story and everything i had produced, honestly wanting to delete it all. but i somehow found the strength to push forward !! <3 love you all and again i sincerely apologize for the wait for those who have been waiting !!! (if anyone is even still reading haha)
> 
> song rec: just a little bit of your heart by ariana grande (slowed + reverb) + quit by ariana grande (slowed)

if being in love with her and not knowing was what was worse, well then archie should be good, right?

because now he knew. she had a boyfriend.

he must have imagined the stolen glances, the secret smiles, the flirty banter. what he had thought was _unbearable sexual tension_.

apparently all his unrequited fantasy.

he pushed those thoughts out of his mind, parking in front of the community center, formerly the el royale fight club. this was his livelihood now. all his energy would be directed towards bettering the center and the kids who came here seeking refuge. he was planning on holding boxing lessons here on the weekends, and just had to figure out the logistics.

munroe was already inside, sweeping up.

“hey dude,” archie nodded, and munroe nodded back. it was nice to have another person help hold the place down.

archie smiled. his dad would be proud.

it was almost 4pm, meaning his junior group, middle-school age kids, would be coming in, just for informal physical training and snacks.

“hey guys,” archie grinned, greeting the familiar faces. the day felt better already.

“ready, mr. andrews,” unbeknownst to the group, who really didn’t mean any harm, the name stung. only his dad was mr. andrews.

and even though he was almost 21, archie just didn’t feel like an adult. “guys, please, how many times do i have to tell you – just archie is fine.” he smiled.

the session flew by, archie finally dismissing the kids and helping clean up the place. he headed out into the parking lot, but before he could make it two steps forward, a solid punch threw him backwards.

he only had time to register dark eyebrows and raven curls before he was pummeled again, thrust against a concrete wall.

“i’ve been waiting a _long_ time to do that,” a voice snarled.

it was nick st. clair.

***

“betty,” he tried, but it came out more a croak.

betty frowned. “arch?”

“can you…” – a strained cough – “make it to the youth center? on the corner of lexington and cedar?”

“yeah, i know it archie, but what’s happening? are you okay??”

“i can’t really –” was all betty heard before the line went dead, an indefinite beep ringing in her ears.

***

betty felt her heart hammering painfully as she got into her car, hands shaking as she tried to put the key into the ignition.

she consistently went 20 miles over, but a speeding ticket was really the least of her worries at the moment. she cursed under her breath as she slowed to a stop at a red light.

“c’mon, c’mon, _c’mon,_ ”

she finally swerved into the parking lot of el royale, imagining the worst. 

but nothing prepared her to find archie’s unconscious body on the pavement, bruised and bloody.

“archie!” she cried, running to his body, which remained unmoving.

betty put her ear to his chest, and thankfully still registered a pulse. he inhaled sharply, coughing up blood.

“oh my god, we have to get you to the hospital,”

“no,” archie croaked. “i can’t do that to my mom financially right now,”

“you idiot, _i’ll_ pay for it right now if i have to,”

“no, really, betty.” he insisted. she was shocked he could even remain conscious in the condition he was in. “i’m fine.”

betty couldn’t help but scoff at the absurdity of it all. “what part of being beaten unconscious is fine?”

archie pressed his arm against the wall behind him, struggling, but pulling himself up into a sitting position.

“archie i – ”

“see? i’m okay.”

betty did not look convinced. “betty, please. we were paying my dad’s medical bills for _ages_. i promise i’m fine.” his eyes shone with sincerity, and betty couldn’t help but give in.

“okay, but i’m dragging you to my house and patching you up.”

“i’m not really in a position to object, am i?”

***

betty tenderly slung archie over her shoulder, bringing him to her car and getting him in the passenger seat, after much difficulty and cursing.

archie winced, but swore he was okay.

betty looked over at him as they drove in silence.

“hey, don’t get blood on my seat.” she joked.

“i’m trying!”

getting him up her stairs was another challenge, but they went step by step. archie flinched guiltily as betty stopped, heaving against the wall.

“betty, you don’t have to –

“it’s okay, arch. you just weigh a thousand pounds,” she teased.

“it’s muscle mass!” he said defensively. “from the weight training!”

“you mean the cheeseburgers.”

archie scowled.

“you should just be thankful my mom isn’t home. that would be a whole other slew of questions.”

he silently agreed.

finally, the pair made it to her room, her supporting archie’s back as he leaned back against her headboard, grimacing.

“stay here,” she commanded, turning towards her bathroom.

“no promises!” he called out. _he thought he was **so** funny._

betty rummaged through her medicine cabinet, finally locating her little first aid kit.

she returned and sat on the floor cross-legged, carefully taking out the necessary supplies. archie watched her breathlessly, trying not to stare too obviously. he focused on a spot on the ceiling as she tenderly dabbed an antiseptic wipe on his cuts. her fingers brushed ever so slightly against his jaw, reminding archie of the night she’d gotten drunk and done the same without any inhibitions.

“thankfully you don’t need any stitches,” she said softly, almost a whisper, as she worked. “that’s beyond my medical capabilities,” betty grinned.

“i - um...” betty reddened, her demeanor quickly shifting. “need you to take off your shirt.”

“you and the rest of this town. get in line, cooper.” he smirked, waggling his eyebrows.

“ugh. you are in _sufferable_.” but archie obliged, sliding off his bloodstained white tee, as betty tried to look _anywhere_ but.

god, he was so sculpted. he must have spent every _second_ in the gym. betty worked quickly to keep from staring, patching up the scrapes on his abdomen.

she lifted his arm, applying a soft pressure against the purpling area. she pulled out a roll of gauze, tearing off a strip to wrap around below his wrist. archie would be okay with just lying there forever and letting betty do whatever she wanted to him. _oh my god, not like that. head out of the gutter._

she examined his face, tracing her finger over the scar above his eyebrow from when he fell off his bicycle. archie held his breath. betty pulled away suddenly as if she just realized what she was doing.

“i – um, ran out of band-aids. i’m gonna call justin and ask if he has any.”

_way to ruin the moment, betty._

“he’s just really clumsy, he’s always falling and cutting himself,” betty laughed nervously, pulling her phone out. she excused herself, leaving archie alone with his thoughts.

which really primarily consisted of _she’s so pretty_ and _she shouldn’t care this much about you_ and _she’s not yours, she has a boyfriend you idiot._

betty peeked her head in, disrupting archie’s downward spiral. “he said he’s actually in the neighborhood and has some in his glove compartment. i’m just gonna run down.”

archie nodded, but she had already left.

***

by the time betty returned, she saw that her red-headed friend was passed out.

 _good,_ betty thought. _he must be exhausted. hopefully some rest would do him some good._

she blew air out through her mouth, sitting herself down on archie’s swivel chair. she slid over to the sleeping boy, finally bandaging up a spot on archie’s forehead and leaning back to inspect her work.

“see? all fixed. back to perfect.” she whispered, really to herself.

betty looked at him, so close she could count the freckles near his nose and see how thick his eyelashes were. she stroked his hair tenderly, imagining a world she could do this freely… when he was conscious.

oh my god. she was being weird. betty quickly got up and went downstairs before she could do anything creepier.

_you have a boyfriend. a good one. a loyal one. a sweet one._

she wasn’t allowed to think about how nice archie looked when he smiled or how his hands were callused but would fit in hers perfectly or how attractive he looked when he washed his car or _slept_ for god’s sake. or did anything for that matter.

_you have a boyfriend._

it was frightening how often she had to remind herself of that.

***

archie blinked awake, seemingly alone in betty’s room. he wondered how long it had been, having no sense of time.

he lay there for a while before betty poked her head in – “you’re awake!”

“nah, still asleep.”

“you jerk,” she rolled her eyes. “i save your life and give you shelter in my home and you have the audacity to be sarcastic?”

archie had the decency to look guilty.

“i’m too nice to you, so i brought you hot soup.” she said, settling in at the edge of the bed, making sure not to sit on archie’s injured hand. “but now i’m thinking i should just pour it over you.”

“i got hurt, i’m not sick,” archie argued, smiling and accepting the soup nonetheless.

“archie…” she started solemnly. “i know you wanna move on from this, but... who did this to you?”

his eyes darkened. “it was nothing. no one. just a random, isolated attack.”

“ _arch,_ ” she urged, not buying it.

“it was nick,” he exhaled. “but i think he was just looking to ‘exact his revenge’,” archie did air quotes with his fingers. “i don’t think he’ll be coming back for a round two.”

betty frowned, not satisfied with the explanation.

“betts, i can take care of myself.”

“it’s not that you can’t. it's that you shouldn’t have to.”

“you’ll be the first I call if he shows up again.” he promised. betty nodded, having to be content with that for the time being.

the boy continued to ravenously gulp down the soup he had just insulted.

betty watched fondly, wondering why she subjected herself to the bittersweet pain of this cycle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thought i'd exPLODE from the sexual tension in this chapter.
> 
> thank youuu for reading i love and appreciate you. <3


	11. i know it's forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. this chapter. just so *much*. literally loved writing it. kinda wanna stop now :) dedicated to @tvdvixen @bcttyandrews @bettycheated @thebarchies @cvrlaroson@adoretaylors @bettyandarchie2 @slowburnsftw @barchiesluv @ahobbitinahole @blxssqdd @dylanallens @barchielifee love you so much you're all literally unbelievable <33
> 
> also i wrote the free verse poems in here myself !! <3
> 
> song recs: ribs by lorde + into you by ariana grande

***

we fell in love in sandboxes,

in classrooms and over three-hour phone

conversations and on creaky swing sets

we fell in love playing pretend.

princes and princesses,

pinky promises on the playground

we fell in love watching movies

and each other

sharing dreams and

tears on bedroom floors

feelings lingering in

gas stations, over cheap

watered-down coffee

in fluorescent-lit

grocery store aisles

and every place in between

***

july rolled around, and though the nights were uncomfortably warm and the days hotter still, things seemed to be cooling down with archie and betty.

there was no longer an unbearable sexual tension that hung over them. archie seemed to have reigned in and suppressed any lingering feelings. gotten control and squashed any attraction as soon as it peeked its head out.

time made it easier, easing the sharp ache in his chest. despite it all though, he couldn’t help but clench his fist or grit his teeth whenever justin came by.

it wasn’t a piercing hurt anymore.

_it wasn’t._

***

“betty,”

she looked up from her dinner. the two were having italian, courtesy of justin’s culinary expertise. they had been going out for months, but it seemed like she learned something new about him every day.

“do you… do you love me?”

betty almost choked on a strand of spaghetti. justin turned red, suddenly feeling embarrassed at the bluntness of his question.

“you – you don’t have to, of _course_. i just… i’ve loved you. you know that.”

she did know that. unfortunately.

“of course you don’t have to love me now. people feel differently at different times.” he pressed on.

 _boy,_ did she know that, too.

“i just… i need to know if you _can_ love me. at some point.”

betty was speechless, utterly at a loss for how to respond to this.

“or else what are we even doing here?”

a pregnant pause.

“it seems like an unfair question, but… we’ve been together 7 months now and... i don’t feel you’re as all in.” he fidgeted uncomfortably with his napkin. “we have fun. we do. but i’ve always felt.. in the back of my mind.” he gulped. “it’s archie.”

“archie?” betty finally found her voice.

“what you have with archie… i’ve never seen any –”

“am i not allowed to have guy friends?” betty asked forcefully, bordering on spiteful.

“of course you are.” he quickly interjected. “but betty, you can’t deny that whatever you feel for archie is more than that. i see you guys interact and i’m not the sharpest and even _i’ve_ picked up on it.” he was starting to get angry too.

“i don’t understand. what have i done that’s wrong? have a guy best friend? archie and i grew up together and – ”

justin cut her off, slamming his fork against the table, surprising them both.

“you can say what you want, betty, but i can’t ignore what i see.” he squeezed his eyes shut, visibly trying to calm himself down. “i’m sorry.”

betty blinked back tears, but she could feel her resolve crumbling.

“i’ve never –”

“i don’t think you’ve ever done anything with archie while you’ve been with me. but emotional cheating is cheating too.” justin stood up, pushing his chair back.

“you’re an amazing girl, betty. and i can’t unfall for you, but i also can’t be with you when you want someone else. i just… i hope you find what you’re looking for.”

and with that, justin left, leaving behind a heartbroken and confused betty cooper.

***

you make the ordinary

_poetic_

you walk like a dance

speak like a sonnet

every dream of you like a memory

and every memory of you a dream

faded at the edges, blurry,

like i’m not certain if it’s real or

some sort of beautiful, terrible déjà vu

your words are a ballad,

your form, art.

so bright i have to look away every

so often to make sure i don’t go blind

your mark etched into every crevice of my

being.

your coffee on my counter

your voice in my head

your jacket on my bedroom floor

you smell forever of roses and vanilla and

broken promises.

***

betty closed herself up in her room, her only company ryan gosling and rachel mcadams and anne hathaway and chris pine.

at least _they_ got their happy endings.

as time passed, her confusion turned to hurt, which turned to sadness, which ultimately morphed into anger once she realized her pattern.

it struck her all at once, a stark, crazy realization.

every long-term relationship she tried to make work _ended because of archie andrews._

she boiled with rage and frustration. why couldn’t he at least let her be happy with _someone_ if he didn’t want her himself?!

ian from summer camp. jughead. luke from debate club at yale. and now justin.

all broken off because of an idiot who could never love her at the right time or the right place.

a swift knock came at the door, which opened anyway, before betty could tell the person to just _go away._

“hey,” archie said tentatively, assessing betty’s situation, which was embarrassing to say the least. her hair looked disheveled, clothing rumpled, and it had been days since she’d tried to make herself look presentable.

 _of course_ it was archie. the last person she wanted to see. the constant reminder of why she could _never_ have a boyfriend or stable relationship.

“i heard from kevin.” he admitted, as she tried to flatten her hair and straighten her top. “and brought ice cream. häagen-dazs. your favorite, double belgian chocolate chip.” he presented her the carton bashfully.

_kevin. that traitor._

instead of thanking him or softening, the gesture infuriated betty. she was _shaking_.

how _dare_ he be so gentle and patient with her? how dare he do all the things a boyfriend would do? it was _taunting_ , insulting even.

how dare he know her favorite ice cream flavor and how to make her laugh and be so sickeningly sweet to her, when he could _never give her anything more_?

she realized she still hadn’t said anything. she clenched her fists.

“this is your fault.” she whispered under her breath. _be rational, betty. don’t explode now._

“betty, are you okay?” he asked gently, meeting her gaze. he looked so good, hair just messy enough, and he smelled like his aftershave.

“this is your _fault,_ archie,” she spat. archie was taken aback by the sudden hostility in her voice.

“what – what do you mean?”

“why are you here?” she answered with her own question. betty groaned inwardly. now that she had snapped on him, it would be very hard to explain herself out of this situation.

“i don’t understand – ”

“ _why_ are you here right now?” she got up, standing in front of him challengingly. 

“i just wanted to make sure you were okay, i – ”

betty smashed her lips against archie’s, effectively shutting him up.

she brought her hands to his hair, his neck, his jaw, like she couldn’t touch enough of his skin. ( _she couldn’t.)_

“why are you so _cute_?” she growled, pulling away and going back in. “it’s – so – annoying,” she got out breathlessly in between kisses.

archie hadn’t pulled away, which betty was thinking was a good sign. she was so consumed by desire and pent-up frustration that she honestly didn’t care at this point if he pushed her away.

instead though, he was pulling her closer, closing the limited space between them. he gripped her waist like if he let go, she would vanish from between his fingers.

betty’s room felt a thousand degrees warmer, as she focused entirely on the euphoric sensation of archie’s lips on hers. he pushed her against her bedroom door, tugging on the hem of her shirt, asking permission. she nodded against his skin, and her shirt was off.

“arch,” she sighed. her mind was turning to mush.

archie nibbled at the base of her neck, working his way up, his warm breath tickling her ear. _he knew what he was doing._ she inhaled his scent, a musky cologne. it was woodsy and warm and just so _archie._

betty whined, pulling at archie’s top button. “why are you wearing a _button-up_?” she fiddled with each button awkwardly. “when do you _ever_ wear dress shirts to my house?” _just her luck._

but finally the last button came undone, and betty ran her eyes over his body in awe. she’d always known archie was athletic, but he was carved like a greek _god_. they walked back to the bed, flopping down clumsily, giggling. she traced her fingers over his chest, his abs, placing small kisses along the way. her hands skirted the silver of his pants button.

she peered up at him through half-lidded eyes, lashes fluttering.

“betty,” he moaned, her name shocking betty into the realization of what she was doing.

***

if you told archie andrews that going to kevin’s garage to return his keyboard would directly lead to him in betty’s bed two hours later, he would have laughed in your face. and then proceeded to tell you you were insane.

“hey, archie,” kevin waved him into his home. “you can just put the piano over there,” he pointed at an empty corner of his garage.

archie nodded, grunting as placed the instrument down. “you look fancy,” kevin noted.

“oh, i have a press thing for el royale this afternoon.” he smiled. “we’re trying to do some rebranding.”

“impressive,” kevin said.

“are you going back to julliard after the summer semester?” archie asked after a beat of silence.

“maybe. new york waits for no man.” kevin said absent-mindedly. “um, have you talked to betty recently?”

archie looked up curiously. “not in the last three days. i figured she was busy, and me and munroe have been working on a renovation project at the center ourselves. so i haven’t really even been home much the past few days.”

“well, uh, i think you should check up with her. justin… just broke up with her.”

“oh.” archie’s head spun.

“i don’t think she’s been taking it too well,” kevin said, running his hand through his hair.

archie didn’t know how to feel. he felt a twinge of happiness, which was then immediately squashed by guilt. but it was all overcome by a sense of protectiveness, a need to help betty feel better.

“thanks for the keyboard, kev,” archie said. “i’ll talk to you later,” and he was already out the door.

***

archie opened the door before she had a chance to respond. he felt something twist painfully in his chest as he saw betty, clearly distressed, face tear-stained.

and _oh man, she had princess diaries 2 paused on her laptop._

and then she was yelling at him, why was she yelling at him? archie didn’t know why she was mad at him, but he apologized. he must have done something wrong. she finally said this was _his fault_ , and then she was kissing him, _she was kissing him_.

archie wasn’t the brightest, or the smartest, or even the quickest. but his brain was entirely _failing to process what was happening_ as betty growled something about how cute he was (?) before going back in for another kiss. the ice cream carton fell from his hand to the floor, entirely forgotten. (what was ice cream?)

he was short-circuiting as this beautiful girl he had wanted all his life caressed him, touched him, kissed him in places he had only imagined she would. he ran her fingers through her blond tresses desperately, and his senses were overwhelmed with lavender and vanilla and _betty._

and then her shirt was off, her tossing it aside, because he was too wonderstruck to take it off himself.

archie marveled at her perfect skin, the flawless curve of her hip, more stunning than any of the fantasies he had conjured up over the years.

she hummed against his skin as he kissed her again – they were entirely tangled up in each other, almost all the way there.

and then she was stopping, she was pulling away, eyes wide. archie instantly felt colder, emptier.

“betty? – what –”

“oh my god. oh my god. i have to go.” she stammered, gathering her clothes and running out the door.

“but this is your house!” archie yelled after her.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OIDWHOIWNZNAMNOMZOIZIOMWOINXI
> 
> that is all i have to say.


	12. but it's true

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so late (i missed 2k) but thank you so much for 2.5k!!! what a milestone. def don't deserve it. tysm love you <333
> 
> song rec: need you now by lady antebellum

***

betty sat shell-shocked in the treehouse.

she didn’t know why she was back here. her legs had instinctively carried her here, really. she dug her fingernails into her palms, inhaling and releasing quickly before she drew blood. she wasn’t that person anymore.

stupid, stupid, _stupid._

perfect betty cooper, who meticulously planned and thought and analyzed and re-analyzed had _almost had sex with archie andrews_.

the most reckless thing she had ever done.

she squeezed her eyes shut tight as she gripped at the mahogany floor of the treehouse, trying to block out the memory. but it still flashed painfully, intense and vivid. his strong arms, the v-line that led downward… it left little to the imagination. his gaze when he looked at her – like she was perfect.

_she didn’t deserve that._

she wanted more than anything to feel archie… well, like _that_. even just thinking about it, betty blushed furiously. but she didn’t want her first time with him to be angry rebound sex.

oh, who was she _kidding_? archie wasn’t the rebound. every other guy she had been with to try to get over him were the rebounds.

(also first time with him…? was she thinking there’d be more?)

she had to tell someone. ask what to do next. _what did this mean?_ betty’s mind went a thousand miles a minute. why did she have to go and throw a perfectly good friendship down the drain? she had irreversibly ruined everything.

what would archie think of her?

oh my god, archie. she had literally thrown himself at her.

but he had reciprocated! that had to count for something.

 _no_. betty dragged her hands though her hair, pressing her fingers into her scalp. she _had_ to let archie come to her this time. she had made the first move too many times. she had to let him confess… if there was anything to confess. if there was anything between them.

and if he never talked to her again, well then, there was her answer.

***

“archie? you haven’t come down for dinner,” his mom paused in his doorway, finding her son staring at a blank point on the wall above his desk.

and that’s the position he had been in, almost exactly, for the past two hours since betty had jumped him and then proceeded to run away from him as fast as she could.

_was he that bad at kissing?_

no, that wasn’t it. she just came to her senses, that she didn’t want him like that, that she was confusing the hurt of her break-up with justin with attraction for him.

didn’t she think that if she were an option, if she were single all these months, that he wouldn’t have made a move?

but despite it all, archie couldn’t help but feel mad at her. _furious_. seeking comfort from him was one thing, but going so far as to almost having sex with him, and then leaving so abruptly… it wasn’t right. cruel, even, if she had the slightest idea of how much he had wanted her the past few years. _he was a rebound_ , he realized, heart falling into his stomach.

“honey?”

archie shook back to reality. “oh, sorry, mom. i’m, um, not really hungry,” _you were hungry for **something** just a little ago, _a voice in the back of his mind taunted.

_shut up, voice._

“excuse me?” _whoops. that was out loud._

“uh, nothing! i’m just gonna go for a drive. clear my head a bit.”

“is something wrong? you wanna talk, sweetie?” mary placed a comforting hand on archie’s shoulder.

_what would he say? that he had almost deflowered his childhood best friend not because she really wanted him but because she was on the rebound from a guy who was probably perfect for her?_

“um, it’s nothing, it’s just the stress of the center. we’re – uh, doing a lot of changes, fast. it’s just hard to keep up.”

mary smiled fondly. “your father would be so proud,” she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“aw, mom, don’t get all emotional on me,”

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry. you go. don’t be back too late.”

archie grinned, grateful for the blessing that was his mother.

“for sure.”

***

archie drove.

he drove and drove and drove a little more.

past pop’s, past sweetwater river, past the bennett’s mom-and-pop store. past riverdale.

the wind rushed past him as he drove along, blowing archie’s hair messier than it was before. the late evening air offered him an odd sense of calm. the sky indicated sunset, hues of scarlet and pink and amber coloring the horizon. he wanted to find shapes in the clouds – he spotted horses and mountains and dragons, and hearts… _wait no, not hearts_. archie turned at the intersection, sure he could find something non-love-related in the sky.

he turned over all the could-have-beens and what-ifs in his mind, bringing him right back to where he was at the end of senior year. maybe he’d never get over her. and that was just something he’d have to come to terms with. if last night had confirmed anything, it was that he was surer about betty than anything… and with him she… wasn’t.

it was _almost_ painful enough to make him have to end their friendship completely. but he knew that would be entirely worse. he just couldn’t do that to betty.

he hated it. he hated that it was a cycle he felt forever imprisoned in with no progression, no end date. forever trapped on a wheel, spinning around and around, and he kept running as fast as he could, but he was spellbound, powerless to either move forward or get off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are approaching the end :( i mentioned this in a comment but them circling around each other and being stupid (“in the wrong place at the wrong time”) is, as frustrating as it is, the central plot of the story. despite being adults, this essential inability to be straight w each other (their best friend) is all too familiar at this point. 
> 
> as crazy and unrealistic as it seems -- it happens in real life, believe it or not. and it's tragic in some ways, but beautiful too. at every turn, there's some excuse, some obstacle, some misunderstanding. it's a mixture of nostalgia and grief and agonizing pain of years missed... but to come together at the end makes it an unbelievably beautiful and satisfying love story.
> 
> but i have to bring this to a resolution lol, as much as i love writing it haha !! love you all soooo much <333 manifesting barchie s5
> 
> (sry this was such a long note for no reason i hate me)


	13. i wanna hold you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so so sorry but this is a rlly short chapter (ik you guys hate these!!) but its only bc logically/storywise this is where it makes sense to divide it. i PROMISE i'll be posting tmrw asap!!!
> 
> song rec: over again by one direction (slowed + reverb)

it had been 27 days since betty had spoken to archie.

every day felt like another nail in the coffin, stung her a little sharper. reconfirmed that maybe they’d never be the way they were again.

and every day she felt her self-loathing grow.

 _“this is your fault,”_ her own words from that day echoed in her mind, slowly driving her insane. it _wasn’t_ his fault. it was _hers._ the irony of it all didn’t fail to strike her.

and boy, she didn’t let herself forget, for even a moment. she had to hold herself back from peeking out her window. it was especially hard when someone felt a million miles away but was really right next door.

it was so unlike the last time, when archie was god knows where. hundreds of miles away.

so she fell into the monotony of routine. wake up, write, work-out, lunch, hang out with roni and kev, write some more, dinner. she was a creature of routine, after all. and it was all that kept her from completely falling apart.

if she stopped for even a moment too long, let her eyes linger an extra second on the window across from her, she would break.

and so this pattern continued, uninterrupted, unchanged – until it didn’t.

“is this betty cooper?”

betty held her phone at a length. “yes?” she replied skeptically.

“this is jennifer fernandez, i’m calling from the office of the new york times. we received your application regarding applying for a position here, and after review, would like to offer you a position as junior editor. would you be interested?”

betty blanked.

_what?_

then covered the mouthpiece and jumped around, screaming.

“oh my god, thank you! yes – yes, i would be interested.” she replied, trying to contain the excitement in her voice.

“wonderful. we’ll have a senior editor get in contact with you to brief you on the specifics of the role, and we expect you can book a flight to laguardia or jfk within the week?”

“within… the week?”

“yes, we imagine it’ll take a few days to settle into the city, and you can essentially get started right away.”

“oh… i – uh, see.” _don’t self-sabotage, don’t self-sabotage._ _this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity._ “can i reach you back at this number, ms. fernandez?”

“oh, yes. and call me jennifer, please. please don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions. we can’t wait to see you here at the times.” she said politely.

“thank you so much, jennifer. bye.” betty replied, hanging up in sort of a daze.

_**what** was she supposed to do now?_

***

_thwack!_

archie slammed his fist into the punching bag, finding comfort in his age-old stress relief mechanism.

betty hadn’t reached out to him, naturally. it was on him, though. he shouldn’t have held out any hope – her response seemed pretty obvious. he was being naïve and stupid. 27 days, though? he would have thought she’d at least have said _something_ to him by this point. a joke. an apology. a rejection. _anything._

but no. just radio silence.

“archie,” his mom approached from behind.

“yeah, mom,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the bag as he jabbed.

“i just bumped into alice at the grocery store. she said betty was just offered a position at the new york times! as a junior editor. isn’t that great?”

archie whirled around so fast it almost made him dizzy. “betty _what_?” his gloves fell to the carpet with a soft _thud._

“i figured you hadn’t heard, since you hadn’t mentioned anything about it to me. what happened? aren’t you guys talking?” mary had realized her son had stopped going next door or mentioning his best friend at dinner, and purposely avoided looking out his window. but she refrained from asking, figuring he’d come to her if he wanted to.

“i – umm... we’re in a bit of a weird place right now.”

mary raised her eyebrows. “so weird she couldn’t tell you that she’s leaving to be halfway across the country?”

archie stayed silent, sitting himself down at the edge of his bed.

“archie,” mary sighed, rubbing her temple. “you two have the best, if not the most frustrating relationship i’ve ever seen.” she sat beside him. “i don’t want to see the past repeating itself. it can’t be like when you left last time – you’re both _still_ hurting from that. i don’t think your friendship can survive another goodbye like that.”

archie exhaled deeply. she was right.

“mom – you… you don’t understand. before we stopped talking, we almost… had sex.”

her eyes widened.

“but it was right after she broke up with justin and it didn’t mean anything and she bolted before anything could really happen. and she hasn’t talked to me since, so if that isn’t loud and clear enough…”

mary’s brows furrowed. “maybe… maybe she was a little confused, and felt bad about the way she started things. but that doesn’t mean she loves you any less. and now she’s probably feeling guilty, and waiting for you to make the first move.”

archie shook his head. “i don’t think so, mom.” he got back up, pulling his gloves back on. “you don’t know what it was like with her and justin. you didn’t see the expression on her face when she ran out on me.”

she frowned, feeling helpless – she couldn’t reassure her own son.

“you two have never been the best at communication.” she added. archie scoffed. _that was an understatement._ “it’s up to you of course. but talk to her. you’ll regret it if you don’t.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mwahahah a revelation. now we're talkin'.... some actual plot development i was STARVING
> 
> (also can we talk abt how much i love mary andrews)


	14. when i'm not supposed to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the longest chapter i've written to date! i rlly need to stop writing at 3am. 
> 
> song rec: innocent by taylor swift (slowed)

***

_“look, it’s my front tooth!”_

_“ew, archie, that’s gross! get that tooth away from me! that’s so unsanitary.” the eight-year-old exclaimed, shuddering._

_little archie rolled his eyes. girls were so dramatic._

_“well, don’t come running back to me when i’m_ rich _,” he taunted, tucking his treasure away safely._

_betty made a disgusted expression. “don’t worry, i won’t. besides, i’m about to make a lot more than a measly quarter,” she beamed. “i’m starting a lemonade stand.”_

_“that sounds boring.” archie stuck his tongue out. “and like a lot of work.”_

_betty dismissed his complaints, kneeling down to get out her supplies from her bedroom drawers. “i’m almost done making the sign.” she quickly got to work, gathering the “many ingredients she would need” (“it’s just lemons and water and sugar,” archie had argued) for the next day._

_and very early saturday morning (much earlier than archie would ever bother to wake up on a weekend), she set up her stand proudly, neatly spreading out a checkered tablecloth over the table. she was officially open for business, as her handmade sign would tell you. now all that was left was to wait, and watch the cash roll in._

_except it was much more waiting than watching cash roll in. actually, it was only waiting. apparently their street wasn’t a very busy one for foot traffic, and passing cars weren’t exactly likely to stop to buy a glass of lemonade from a school-age girl. whoever did pass by was either broke or diabetic._

_“looks like business isn’t exactly booming,” archie commented as he stepped out to walk vegas, glancing at the several full glasses on the table._

_“not yet!” she said defensively. “just you wait. 4 o’clock is peak time for thirst.”_

_“whatever you say.”_

_but 4 o’clock turned into 5 o’clock, which gradually became 6. betty eyed the darkening sky nervously. finally at 6:30, she let out a loud sigh, mentally resigning._

_archie approached the stand hesitantly, having been watching it all unfold from his doorstep for the past half hour. “hey,”_

_“hey,” came the dejected response._

_he pulled out a shiny quarter, the only one he had. “uh, one glass of lemonade please.”_

_betty looked up, shocked. “but, arch, that’s your only money. and after i made fun of you!”_

_archie smiled, that sweet lopsided one he reserved for just her. “i know. i’m doing this to have the upper hand, of course.”_

_betty grinned and felt her heart swell. she graciously accepted the coin, handing him a cold glass._

_archie took a sip, his smile quickly turning into a grimace._

_“ugh, it’s too sour, isn’t it?”_

_“no,” he said, face still scrunched up. “it’s perfect. seriously. you should go to a lemonade academy.”_

_betty let out a loud laugh, a sound like tinkling bells, one that reverberated through the air._

***

betty smiled sadly as she cleared away loose items, revealing the lemonade stand sign tucked away in her closet. not exactly something she could pack.

if she could, she’d pack away all the contents of her room – all of riverdale – her mom, pop’s, roni, kevin, the register… archie. her heart ached. she wished she could erase all the drama and just haul everyone away in her little suitcase.

the gravity of the choice hung over betty. she couldn’t even imagine rejecting the offer. the new york times didn’t go around offering journalism openings to just anyone. this would be life-changing for her career, and turning it down would be stupid and rash. and for what? a boy that she loved who probably didn’t love her back? to continue to dance around him and her feelings for another ten years?

this was the fresh start she needed. she had to be selfish for a change. archie had chosen that clean slate for himself with the navy. so didn’t she deserve this?

she continued to pack with strengthened resolve. if she ever _truly_ wanted to start over, free from archie-related-pain, she _had_ to leave riverdale. this was it. this was her golden ticket out.

***

reminiscing was painful, but good too. even though inherently, it faded with time, there was a sort of permanence in memory – in photographs and mementos and keepsakes. they captured the feeling of a moment.

archie had been reveling a lot in memory lately. reflecting. in memories he found peace. a sort of tranquility. a sense of quiet.

so while his best friend packed away her confusion a few hundred feet away, archie reminisced. he indulged in all that was – hopscotch and double-dog-dares and pinkie promises. cloud chasing and tree climbing in late spring and walks in winter sunsets.

and darker times. nights where he wanted to curl into himself and disappear, drown out the screaming downstairs.

_“fred, you’re being ridiculous!” she yelled._

_“mary, you don’t understand,”_

_“what_ you _don’t understand is the financial situation of this family,”_

_“andrews construction was handed down to me from my father, and i’ll grovel on the streets before i sell it to some money-hungry mogul!”_

_betty shifted nervously next to him, clearing her throat loudly to block out some of the shouting. “so, what did you get for number 6? the missing angle?”_

_“i’m sorry, betty, i can’t focus on calculus right now. not with the screaming match going down on stairs.”_

_betty didn’t even have the heart to tell him this was trigonometry._

_she placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, forcing him to look at her._

_“hey, you’ll be alright, okay? you got me.”_

_archie gave her a small smile. “i know.” but his expression turned dark again once the argument downstairs picked up volume again. it was a lot for a 13-year-old._

_“and don’t think you can ever get rid of me,” she only half-joked. archie nodded, looking off at some point outside through his window._

_but the next morning, she was awoken frantically by her mother, who claimed archie was nowhere to be found. a neighborhood search party had formed, looking for the missing teen._

_he had run away from home. that **bastard**._

_betty searched desperately – riverdale middle, near sweetwater, at the city park. not a trace of the prepubescent ginger._

_she began to imagine the worst. maybe he had tripped and cut himself and was bleeding out somewhere. or he was kidnapped. or maybe he **was** at sweetwater – just at the bottom of the river._

_betty pumped harder, cycling past the town square until she reached the outskirts of riverdale, where she was sure to find the mighty oak. she slowed to a stop, getting off and shading her eyes against the afternoon sun. she looked down, spotting a backpack and granola bar wrappers on the ground._

_she climbed the makeshift rope ladder, finally seeing archie nibbling on a snack bar inside._

_he looked up at the sound, scrunching his eyebrows. “betty?”_

_she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his wiry frame. then began hitting him, tears flowing freely._

_“you jerk. you left me!” she accused. “what did you think i was gonna do? when my mom yelled at me or when i was made fun of at school?” archie sat still, letting her pummel him as she cried._

_she finally slowed, pulling back and looking at him right in the eyes. “i thought you were dead.”_

_“i’m sorry, betty… i – i didn’t wanna leave you... but i couldn’t stay. you know m-my parents are having money problems,” his voice cracked painfully. “and i felt like a burden. i thought if i left maybe... it’d be one less mouth to feed. and they could save all the money they’d spend on me and… fight less. then they’d be happy.” he bit his lip hard, but couldn’t stop the tears._

_“you moron,” betty pulled him into a hug as he sobbed. he felt embarrassed as he stained betty’s jacket with tears, but she didn’t seem to care. “your parents could never be happy if you left. and i told you last night. you can’t get rid of me. it’s me and you against the world.”_

_and the two left the treehouse, both a little broken, harboring a little darkness, but hand in hand._

_“also not only did you leave home, but you were **littering**?”_

_“what?”_

_“don’t think i didn’t see those granola bar wrappers on the ground.”_

***

the plane ticket was booked. betty looked at the large, bold, printed letters – “greendale regional airport to john f. kennedy international airport”. the ticket was her physical confirmation this was _real_. she wasn’t just packing her suitcases for a make-believe trip or a fantasy vacation. she was leaving to pursue her dream.

and maybe leave one behind, too.

_betty and archie had both agreed the backyard wasn’t big enough for them to play in._

_and so fred andrews had gotten to work, pulling out his toolbelt and sawing and hammering away._

_“betty’s gonna need a ladder,” archie said to his dad as drilled in a final nail for the treehouse._

_“you and i both know i’m a better tree-climber than you, andrews. if anyone’s gonna need a ladder, it’s you.”_

_archie stuck her tongue out at her. “last one to the tallest oak’s a rotten egg!”_

_the two took off sprinting, flying faster than the wind, in a world of firefly-catching and make-believe, before they knew anything of the pain of heartbreak and choices and growing up._

***

archie kept digging in his mind, living and reliving moments that seemed inconsequential, but were actually pivotal. every memory felt symbolic. he dug past playdates and fights and school dances.

and to the furthest back his memory reached.

_a small red-headed boy sat sniffling on the concrete._

_“hi,” came a tentative greeting._

_he looked up, not expecting anyone. he covered his face._

_“i dunno why you’re here. ev’ryone thinks i’m a baby.”_

_“i cried when i scraped my knee, too. i’d fallen off my bike,” the girl said, sitting down on the curb next to him. she was surprisingly mature for a 5-year-old._

_“only pre-k babies cry after falling off the slide,” he replied, facing away from her. she appeared to be deep in thought, then held up her finger, indicating she’d be back in a second._

_archie tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. she had probably left, too embarrassed to be seen with him. he would too if he could._

_“mrs. martin had some band-aids,” she said once she had returned._

_“wow, thanks,” he said, accepting the band-aid gratefully. “you – ” he paused, eyes shining. “don’t think i have cooties?”_

_betty giggled. “no, silly! cooties aren’t real.”_

_archie looked at her as if she had just said santa wasn’t real. so she was one of **those** types._

_“what’s your name?” he asked instead._

_“elizabeth.” she replied proudly, straightening and flashing a toothy grin._

_“that’s long.” archie said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. betty frowned. “how ‘bout eliza?”_

_betty stuck her tongue out. “that doesn’t sound like_ me _.”_

_“how ‘bout betty?” he suggested instead, excitedly._

_“betty,” she repeated, testing the name out on her tongue. “i like it.” she beamed approvingly. “how about you?”_

_“archibald. but everyone calls me archie.”_

_“very nice to meet you, archie.” she said. “i have a feeling you and i are gonna be real close.”_

***

it really was him and that blonde geek against the world.

he moved aside his curtain, finally glancing out at the window next door.

***

betty looked out across her window, accidentally catching archie’s gaze.

she knew he knew.

the painful, imploring look in his eyes told her everything.

she’d known those hazel eyes for too long.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter completely out of order. for reference, each flashback is alternatingly from betty or archie’s point of view. (the first betty, then archie.. etc.) 
> 
> this chapter is a lil different from the others, in that’s it’s messy and kind of told in bits and pieces, rather than linearly. 
> 
> i loved finding and creating parallels, and hope you guys pick up on them too!! :)
> 
> love youuuuu <333


	15. when i’m lying close

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i literally wrote this as it is STORMING outside... it's destiny. also the aesthetic.)
> 
> this is everything i've been building up toward since this story's inception -- since its figurative birth in my mind :) im so so unbelievably grateful for every since person who has supported me throughout this wild ride, and it cannot be understated. every like, kudos, comment, retweet, excited reply means the world to me and keeps me going <33
> 
> and ofc i have to mention the lomls here - @ahobbitinahole @delenawinnara @archielovebot @barchiesouls @barchiesluv @elizarchie @barchieeeee @tvdvixen @cvrlaroson @dreamslalaland @bcttyandrews @archielizabeths @thebarchies @adoretaylors @bettyandarchie2 @slowburnsftw @blxssqdd @dylanallens @barchielifee @barchierising3 @barvarchies @barchills @bettynarch @girlontvs @reinhartsprada - without whom this story may not exist
> 
> that being said, this is NOT the last chapter !!! hang onto your seats :) you'll see - all in due time.
> 
> FINALLY more than a song rec this chapter has a song requirement :) based off of "the last time" by the lovely taylor swift (srsly this girl's entire discography is dedicated to barchie its ridiculous) pls listen to rlly get the full experience as i intended it!! 
> 
> okay im sorry this A/N is too long, im sure you wanna just get going !!! <33 love you all sm !!!

dark clouds gathered above, the air quickly growing heavy and humid. it began drizzling, but it was a gentle rain, almost hesitant. apologetic. it pitter-pattered against betty’s window.

it was the kind of lazy rainy day that betty would shut herself in and curl up with a book – get lost in the pages, safe and warm inside. but it wasn’t just any rainy day.

it was the day she was leaving.

“do you have everything, honey? your boarding pass? passport? charger? winter clothes?” her mom scurried around her, frantically checking her bags.

“mom, mom, it’s fine,” betty chuckled, holding her hands up. “i have everything.”

her mom stopped, growing teary-eyed. “oh, sweetie, i can’t believe we’re here. you’re all grown up –”

“– mom, i’m 22 –”

“– and to think, just yesterday you were eating play-doh!”

“did i ever really do that?” betty rolled her eyes.

her mother ignored her. “now my baby’s gonna be a journalist in the big apple!”

betty smiled softly, checking her watch. if she let her mom go on too long, she’d never be able to leave. “well, mom, check-in is in three hours, and i don’t know if there’ll be delays with the taxi, so i should get going.”

“yes, yes of course,” her mother pulled her into a hug. “did you get all your goodbyes to your friends in order?”

betty shifted nervously. “yeah. they’re done.” _all but one._

her mom handed her a small umbrella, leaving a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. “call me as soon as you get in.”

she smiled and nodded, pulling her suitcase forward slightly. “will do.”

***

the rain began falling in buckets. the storm seemed to cast everything in a dreary grey. archie sat at his desk, finishing the expense reports for the youth center. he scribbled in a note and punched some numbers on the calculator, scratching at his chin thoughtfully. he clicked his pen against the desk impatiently, tapping his foot to the beat of some imaginary tune.

he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread growing in his stomach. lightning struck, followed shortly by a crack of thunder, seemingly shaking the whole house.

archie absent-mindedly looked out his window, watching as kids on the street splashed in puddles and danced with their umbrellas. it was like a rom-com, except it was the kind of sad ending no one wanted to see.

his eyes caught the bright yellow of a taxi as it pulled up. 7a43. _she was really leaving_ , he thought as she climbed in after her luggage. a sense of finality hung in the air.

he went downstairs, opening the fridge and sticking his head in to see if anything new had appeared since he last checked 12 minutes ago. a blast of cold air hit him as his eyes roamed the refrigerator shelves. _ah._ a tray of macaroni and cheese had seemed to materialize. or maybe he just hadn’t noticed it before. he shrugged. either way, this meant lunch break.

archie brought his meager meal back to the kitchen island. he sat and chewed slowly and thoughtfully. _so cheesy._

_what was he doing?_

the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. _he had to go after betty._ there was no way he could let her leave forever without at least telling her how he felt.

 _he was in love with her._ maybe he always had been.

***

**_i find myself at your door  
just like all those times before  
i'm not sure how i got there  
all roads—they lead me here_ **

**_i imagine you are home  
in your room, all alone  
and you open your eyes into mine  
and everything feels better_ **

***

by the time archie sprinted outside, it had turned into a torrential downpour. he had no time to waste getting an umbrella, already soaked by the time he got to his mailbox. he whipped his head left and right, realizing he only knew that the taxi continued up their street, and had no clue which way it turned after. he only had a vague idea of where the regional airport was, and was hopeless without a map.

this was quickly turning out to be a very dumb plan.

(then again, what else was new with archie?)

against all reason and common sense, he raced up their street, following the flow of traffic in the blind hope it would get him any closer to betty. any normal person would have been exhausted by the time they’d reached the intersection of maple and kirkwood, about a mile past archie’s house – but with all his routine jogging, archie wasn’t winded yet. _he had been training his whole life for this._

archie ran like his life depended on it. ( _maybe it did a little?_ )

after about another mile or so (he had no sense of distance), archie thought he spotted it – against all odds. him, on foot, against this taxi. he guessed he just had to thank his lucky stars for the lunch rush traffic. _7a43_.

he jogged at a consistent rate alongside the taxi, until it slowed and stopped at a red light. he sped to the side of the car, knocking urgently against the passenger side window.

the driver looked alarmed at the unexpected intrusion, but cautiously rolled down the window. archie scrunched his eyebrows. nobody was in the back. but he could have _sworn_ this was the right number.

“betty – b-betty cooper. i mean, a blonde girl. was she in your taxi?” archie hurriedly said, all in one breath.

“yeah,” the driver replied. “my last passenger. but she got off about two lights back, in a hurry. said she forgot something, and that it was really important.”

“she’s… not in the car.”

“no, kid. now get along, this light’s about to turn green.”

archie stood stunned as the taxicab drove away, leaving him standing alone in the pouring rain.

***

**_you find yourself at my door  
just like all those times before  
you wear your best apology  
but i was there to watch you leave_ **

**_and all the times i let you in  
just for you to go again  
disappear when you come back  
everything is better_ **

***

betty cooper was the girl who faked cramps to get out of p.e. she was the one that claimed it was too hot to play volleyball – indoors. when she saw a treadmill, she ran the _other_ way.

that same betty cooper was now sprinting in a monsoon, bags flailing. she struggled to pull her bag and hold her umbrella at the same time, so she gave up on the umbrella, letting herself get drenched. her mother’s reminder to bring a poncho _now_ resurfaced. perfect timing.

she couldn’t get the driver to turn around in the standstill traffic, so she got out in the middle of the road and booked it. she probably should have waited for another taxi or called her mother to pick her up, but that would raise too many questions, and right then betty’s head was swimming with emotions, not logic.

so yeah, maybe she had to make the first move every time. but she didn’t wanna hold onto her pride if it meant having to lose the best thing she had. it was her own fault for being in love with an idiot who couldn’t pick up on the million signs she had thrown out.

she kept running, lungs about to give out. and finally there it was, her house, archie’s house, _their street._ she dropped her bags on the sidewalk, rushing up to the side of the house. she looked up at his window – lights off.

“betty!”

she turned around to meet an equally soaked archie andrews.

***

there she was, a block away, a hundred feet away, seemingly _inches away._

“betty,” he said again breathlessly, after finally getting her attention. she whirled around, letting out a sigh of relief after spotting the ginger. she finally hunched over, hands on her knees. an unsaid goodbye hung between them. her hair was wet and matted to the sides of her head, and her beige coat was practically brown from the rain and _god, she looked so beautiful._ he’d never been so sure he’d wanted her.

“archie – ” she panted. thunder boomed overhead.

he interrupted her. “no. i – i need to say this first.”

bettys of years past flashed in archie’s mind as he studied the face before him (though he didn’t need to – he had it memorized). a betty in a pink dress, a betty who had just scraped her knee, a betty with a missing front tooth – and every betty in between.

the two stood almost exactly as they did almost 8 years ago – betty on her doorstep, archie on the sidewalk.

“you know i’ve… never been the best with words,” his voice cracked.

betty chuckled knowingly. she was an emotional wreck. ( _almost leaving forever did that to you.)_

“yeah,” she said, voice shaky with tears. “you’ve never gotten better than a c- in english.”

“i went away for a long time. and they say time heals, that you forget, that it fades. but that’s _wrong_. because even during my service, i remembered you every day. it hurt, and i _hated_ it. i remember everything you did and everything you said.”

betty peered at him curiously, eyes shining with tears that threatened to fall. the rain continued to pound at them furiously. _what was he saying? what was he talking about?_

“the night of the black hood, the weeks jughead was “dead”, the music room, the bunker.”

now he was just listing places, events. his mind was all over the place as struggled to find the words, to express the intensity of the emotion that threatened to tear him apart. he shook his head, taking a deep breath and trying to get back on track before he completely derailed.

“and then i left. you didn’t deserve that. and you have to know why i really left… better late than never, right?” he chuckled sardonically.

“because i was always too afraid. i was an idiot, not willing to risk the best thing i had for something _better._ i didn’t wanna be vulnerable, and i didn’t wanna face the hurt. but i have to do this now, and you might walk out forever, and you might reject me or hate me, but i just _have_ to do this. because maybe our timing will never be right, and _now_ is the only moment we really have.” everything was coming out as word vomit now – he couldn’t stop the outpouring of emotion after bottling it up for so many years.

“i can’t let you slip through my fingers. not again.” he said, shaking his head, eyes dark. “and maybe you are too good for me, but i don’t care about that anymore, because i think i want something good for myself for once. and if that makes me selfish, then maybe i’m selfish.” he was almost yelling at this point.

her breath caught in her chest, and for a second she forgot how to breathe. she could sense how angry he was at himself for the lost time, the misunderstandings and miscommunication, the mutual hurt. it was desperate and it was raw, and it was nothing short of a confession.

“the biggest mistake i ever made was turning you down sophomore year. and i’ve hated myself every day for that. but if i let you go right now without telling you i loved you, that would be a bigger mistake. because i _love you, betty_.”

***

**_and right before your eyes_  
i'm breaking, no past  
no reasons why  
just you and me**

***

she should have expected the words after that build-up, but they still hit her like a truck. knocked the breath out of her. everything she had wanted, she had craved, yearned for, lusted after - for 14 years. she stared at archie, standing stock-still, attempting to memorize the desperate but determined look on his face.

“can i – can i talk now?” laughter was evident in her voice. nervous laughter, bubbling laughter, _ecstatic laughter._

she all but ran towards archie, wrapping her arms around him, knocking him back a little. she pulled him tighter, a reminder that he was real, he was tangible. her lips hovered above his ear, sending chills down his spine.

“ _i love you, too._ ” she pulled back, grinning. “it’s actually kind of _frustrating_ how much. and i’m actually so glad you just delivered that monologue, or i just ran back here and got myself drenched for nothing,”

archie’s face broke into the brightest smile, all the air leaving his chest as he pulled betty’s face toward his – no pretenses, no hesitation, no doubt.

she drew him nearer, desperately eager to close any space between them. the rain continued to come down in sheets, but she didn’t care – not even a hurricane could have swept away this moment.

“so,” archie smirked, pulling back. “you’re frustrated. like sexually?”

she rolled her eyes. “shut _up_ ,” and dragged him back towards her. she kissed the droplets that clung to his skin tenderly, running her hands over the side of his face.

kissing him was just as exhilarating each time, and they moved to each other in an almost perfect rhythm. her every emotion was heightened, amplified, multiplied times a hundred.

she just wanted to rip all this clothing off, but that wouldn’t be entirely appropriate considering they were in the middle of the street. ( _being able to be with archie was a dangerous addiction_ , she was quickly learning.)

“what took you so long?” betty asked, pulling back.

archie laughed aloud, and betty couldn’t help but giggle – his laughter was contagious, infectious. “i could ask you the same thing.”

betty froze the moment, wanting to capture _this_ memory – one more in a scrapbook of them. but this one she’d especially preserve, so she could play it over and over and over again.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love how archie was just eating mac n cheese before deciding one of the most important things of his life... this boy is an icon.
> 
> AND DO NOT FEAR THIS IS NOT THE END !!! it can't be !!! don't forget, betty still has that plane !!! and you didn't think she was just gonna give up the new york times position did you???
> 
> until next time loves !! <3
> 
> \- ohlittlebarchie xx.


	16. to someone else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short but one of my fave chapters :) sorry it's late but with all that's been happening in the world, writing has just been hard. hope you enjoy this, it was so fulfilling for me in terms of imagery and plot <3 the song rec is also esp meaningful for the scenes
> 
> song rec: mystery of love by sufjan stevens (slowed + reverb)

***

betty cooper was electricity, archie had swiftly realized.

and kissing her, fitting his mouth to hers felt inevitable. fated. just _right_. like something missing had been restored.

the two stumbled into archie’s house, unable to detach themselves from each other now that they had found each other. they made their way up the stairs, rushing and giggling like schoolchildren. they slipped off their jackets as soon as they reached archie’s room, slamming the door behind them, desperately seeking warmth in each other’s bodies. betty was a safe haven, familiar and new and exciting all at once.

 _she was captivating_ , with her emerald eyes and corny puns and rosy cheeks.

and for the first time in his life, this could just _happen._ it wasn’t a mistake or an act or a misinterpretation, and it wasn’t shrouded by guilt or fear or doubt. all he could feel was lust and wanting for this angel of a girl that dared to want him.

he gently slid the ponytail out of her hair, smiling softly as her hair cascaded around her shoulders. clothes were thrown off, discarded onto the floor and forgotten in a moment. his eyes roamed her bare form, flawless. betty shyly tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, wrapping her arms around her torso self-consciously. he reached up to her jaw – “you are _perfect_.” the words weren’t accusatory or demanding, but simply a statement. a belief. he felt a gripping need to reassure her, remind her every day if he needed to so she’d never question it. how dare she be shy when she was so stunning – a dream in human form.

she grinned, and they fell back, archie kissing every blemish and scar on her neck, her breast, her stomach, her upper thigh. betty gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as his hands wandered and explored, her blond hair splayed like a halo around her head. it was so much different than last time. it was softer, more deliberate, but filled with the same passion and desperation.

“arch,” she whispered into the darkness, and he knew he was gone. the way she looked at him with so much reverence was what made him blush, rather than their lack of clothing. ( _what had he done to deserve that?_ ) everywhere she touched him, he felt illuminated, his sorrows dissolved like some long-forgotten memory. “betty,” he rasped, his senses overcome by her scent and her taste and her skin.

and then it was happening, slow and burning a hole in his gut as he reached climax with her. he collapsed on top of her, both breathless.

archie rolled off of her, and she wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in closer and burrowing her nose into his chest. he moved aside her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead tenderly. “i love you,” he whispered against her skin, not being able to say it enough now that it was out there. butterflies erupted in his stomach as he thought about how _she loved him too_ , and lay right next to him in that moment.

“i know,” betty hummed contentedly.

a beat of silence passed as archie waited expectantly. “and…?”

“and what?”

“aren’t you gonna say it back?”

“i don’t know,” betty said. “give me 8 years and i’ll let you know,”

“you little…” archie dug his fingers into her ribs, already targeting her ticklish spot. in some ways, he’d known her body forever.

***

sun filtered through the cracks of the blinds, but archie’s face was illuminated by something more than light.

she felt they had almost desecrated his childhood bedroom – she turned red at the thought of the things they did in the same place they’d taught their classroom of stuffed animals. archie stirred, mumbling something under his breath and throwing an arm over betty.

they’d talked all night, expertly avoiding the off-limits topic of the whole “leaving forever” business. the leaving forever to pursue a once-in-lifetime opportunity. but betty couldn’t help but think about it now as archie continued to slumber, turn it over again and again in her mind. sure, she had missed her flight – but that wasn’t anything booking another flight couldn’t fix. she had until the end of the week to settle into the city, after all.

but she had waited practically her whole lifetime for this relationship, too. she couldn’t imagine herself throwing it away _now_.

archie blinked awake sluggishly, smiling softly at her. 16-year-old her would be _screaming._ “hey,” betty internally melted at his bed head, red hair sticking out in every direction, irresistibly mussed.

“hey,” she beamed back at him.

“archie… we have to talk,”

“aw, you’re breaking up with me _already?”_ he whined jokingly.

“ _no_ ,” she rolled her eyes. “i meant what i said last night. but we have to talk about – ” she lifted her eyebrows. “ _you know_ … that-which-shall-not-be-named.”

“ _you’re_ being a baby about it now!” he exclaimed defensively.

“okay, okay, about the new york times position.”

archie leaned back, stretching lazily against the headboard. “you’re going. what’s there to discuss?”

“but archie we –”

“i’m _not_ letting you give up the best writing position in the country. especially not for me.”

“but this is the first time we’re really – ”

“betty, it’s _final_.”

“then what about… this?” she intertwined their fingers. archie pulled their interlocked hands towards his face, placing a gentle kiss against her knuckles.

“what about it? are you planning on hooking up with a bunch of guys when you’re in new york?”

“archie,” she chided. “i'm serious. you know that’s not it.”

“i'm being serious too. then what is it?”

“you know long-distance is hard.”

“i’ve waited a good couple years to get here. i don’t think you’re getting away from me again that easily.”

betty rolled her eyes. “archie andrews. ever the optimist.”

“betty cooper. ever the cynic.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more to come hehe xx.


	17. you're stuck in my head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been tOO long. i have just been BLOCKED inspiration wise and got a bit busy. sooo sorry abt the wait i cannot apologize enough but thank you so much if you're still sticking around :) love you <3
> 
> song rec: you are in love (slowed) by taylor swift hehe <33

she had asked if she could delay her acceptance of the position for 4 weeks. just to take care of some loose ends in her hometown, she’d said.

 _bold_ , she knew.

they had been surprisingly gracious though – they said she could take that time, but any longer and they’d have to defer the role to a permanent employee. (her mother was appalled with her decision, to say the least. she didn’t blame her.)

and so this was her provisional state. a strange in-between period. the time she’d figure it all out and solve everything without messing anything up or hurting anyone. (hopefully.)

***

it seemed like betty had always known archie. he was always, in some way or another, delicately interwoven into her life. but with this was new ground, and it was both terrifying and wonderful finding all the small, new things in the way their relationship worked. it was discovering unconquered territory, unexplored realms.

it was all the ways he said he loved her without saying “i love you.” like how she’d wake up covered in a blanket or that he’d stop and fix her ponytail. or how she would fall asleep at her desk but wake up in her bed. it was the way he’d leave her coffee if he left for work before her or make sure they had his famous waffles together every sunday morning, and make her jog with him directly thereafter to “burn it off” because he had to “maintain his metabolism or he’d bloat up.” it was lazy afternoons of intertwined bodies or 2am conversations. it was the same but entirely different, the _knowing_.

she didn’t have to be afraid if she was crossing the line or he’d misinterpret and be repulsed. _she could do everything she had wanted to for so long_.

it was infatuation, puppy love, but old, wise, mature love at the same time. souls that knew each other inside out, but were seeing each other in the light for the first time.

and so it went, days and weeks until it was finally almost a month, every day making betty more sure this was what she wanted, that she’d give it all up for him. love was clouding her judgement. (at least that’s what her mom would say.)

the crisp autumn air tossed the fallen leaves around, scarlet and orange and golden. they turned red and brightened and fell gracefully towards the earth, gradually, imperceptibly.

fall had arrived in riverdale suddenly, almost unexpectedly. it was comfortably chilly (in betty’s opinion, at least) and the two had some rare free time, so archie thought they should take the opportunity to of course, go to pop’s. it had been a while, actually.

he rushed out his front door, approaching the side of betty’s house. (much more effective than using her front door, of course.) his head whipped down, eyes scanning the ground until he spotted a small rock. _ah, perfect._

he picked it up, hurling it right at her window. he waited. _darn. no response._

he threw another one, and another, not noticing betty had already opened her window by the time he had thrown the fourth stone. it flew past the blonde, and archie winced as he heard something in betty’s room shatter from the impact.

“archie!” she scolded. archie flinched, already preparing himself for the upcoming lecture.

thankfully, betty still joined him outside after some choice words, face red. he didn’t know if that was from the cold or the anger. he’d guess the anger.

“some people text their girlfriends. some people use a doorbell. but _nooo_ , my boyfriend has to break my personal property to let me know he’s ready to go.” betty mumbled under her breath.

“so,” archie began nervously, pulling his parka tighter around himself. (she had teased him for wearing a parka when it hadn’t even hit 30°.) “what are the good folks over at the times saying?”

betty’s mood shifted. “i’m figuring it out,” she assured him. “don’t worry.”

“i’m not worried. are you worried?”

archie kicked at some leaves as they walked, scuffing the tip of his sneaker.

“seriously, though… i have some stuff in the works, and i’ll let you know if it pans out.” betty said.

“okay,” he conceded. “i could go for a pumpkin spice latte right about now. it’d be a crime not to when it’s this autumn-y.”

***

archie felt two hands cover his eyes.

“guess who?”

“natalie portman? megan fox? _big bird?”_ archie guessed enthusiastically. betty rolled her eyes.

“no, you idiot. it’s me!” she exclaimed, pushing him playfully, revealing herself. archie had been seated at his desk, and she thought surprising him after work would be fun, but if he was just gonna demean her…

“what’s that?” she eyed papers scattered messily on his desk and the guitar in his arms.

“just working on some music,” archie said. “until someone temporarily blinded me. can’t exactly finish a chord when you can’t see.”

“well, excuse _me_ for wanting to see my boyfriend.” she wrapped her arms over his chest from behind, placing a kiss at the corner of his lips. it had been almost a month since they’d starting dating, ( _god_ ) but the word still filled archie’s stomach with butterflies.

“plus,” her eyes lit up with excitement and glee. “i have a _surprise._ ” she sing-songed the last word. betty was ever the one for theatrics.

a surprise? archie’s ears perked at the word. aw, no, no, no, _no_. she was gonna mess up _his_ surprise.

“oh, really?” archie began nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “that’s… great.”

“you don’t sound excited.” betty pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

“no, no, i am!” he insisted. “i was just… thinking about something else.”

“well, _don’t!”_ she said. “c’mon, it’s not here.” she grabbed his arm, dragging him downstairs, and it didn’t seem like archie had much choice but to follow.

***

the pair pulled up at the el royale fight club. betty shifted her car into park, looking over at archie breathlessly.

“why are we – ”

“you’ll see,”

betty and archie entered the center, the latter still being dragged along, until betty spotted the man she was looking for.

“mr. chaplain?” archie asked, not expecting to see the chair of the el royale company at their branch.

“ah, you must be archie andrews. pleasure to finally officially meet you,” the man held out an arm. he was tall, well-built and burly, balding but still sporting a full beard – the kind of guy that looked tough but wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“uh – pleasure’s mine,” archie accepted the hand hesitantly, a bit thrown off.

“this young woman certainly is persistent. i was doubtful about instating another branch considering costs, but ms. cooper here really won me over.”

archie looked over at betty, who was grinning, questioningly.

“she did send me dozens of articles she wrote over the years about the awards and work you’ve done here at this location and _several_ emails.” he eyed her sternly, though a hint of smile remained in his eyes. betty had the decency to blush.

“that – that’s amazing,” archie said.

“well, anyways, congratulations, mr. andrews, i anticipate we’ll be in touch? regarding the financial terms and logistics?”

“y-yes, of course.”

betty’s smile didn’t leave her face as mr. chaplain shook their hands again and excused himself.

“come on, that’s not all,” betty said immediately thereafter, taking hold of his hand again.

“it’s not?” archie asked, still a little dumbstruck.

“nope! we’re going to the treehouse!” she exclaimed. “our celebratory custom. i have a crate of apple cider in my trunk that’s _begging_ to be cracked open. and one more little surprise,” she shot him a sly, mischievous smile.

_oh my god. no, no, no. not the treehouse. why the treehouse?_

“um, why not…. anywhere else?” archie suggested, a little too loudly and quickly.

betty eyed him suspiciously. “c’mon, arch. you know it’s our tradition for good news. and this is good news if i’ve ever heard it.”

“i’m just thinking, it’s so chilly. we should go to pop’s and have a milkshake. on me. or back to my place. i have… crackers.” _man, he was really bad at this._

“you’ve been acting weird all day. this is why you need apple cider.” she shook her and yanked the redhead along. archie exhaled loudly. he should have known that there was no winning when betty made up her mind.

***


	18. and i can't get you out of it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LATE I KNOW IM SORRY I REALLY SUCK AT WRITING NEAR THE END
> 
> song rec: a thousand years pt. 2 by christina perri ft. steve kazee slowed

***

the car ride to the treehouse felt longer than it should have been.

“can you grab the case of cider from the back?” betty called over her shoulder. she turned to the treehouse, stopping dead in her tracks at what her eyes met.

lanterns intricately hung between the mass of trees, string lights illuminating a pathway to the treehouse – _their_ treehouse. rose petals scattered purposefully over white satin. candles, noticeably amber and vanilla blossom – her favorite. and polaroids, twenty, thirty, forty, hung along a string, depicting the two in every place, time, and feeling.

her eyes shone as turned around slowly, deliberately, to meet a bashful archie andrews.

“you had to ruin it, didn’t you?” he gave her a lopsided smile. for the first time, betty cooper had no words. she didn’t trust herself to speak – her voice would waver – she’d choke up.

“i… i’ve been thinking a lot the past few weeks.”

“that’s different,” she teased, voice shaky.

“and i’ve always known i’ve loved you. in some stupidly incomprehensible way. but i’m more sure than ever now.”

betty grinned. archie was ever the one to be randomly sweet and cute for no apparent reason.

“and – and i know you’re scared about moving, that it’ll be too hard or too far for too long. but i wanted to tell you that _that doesn’t matter._ and do that with a promise.” archie slowly began to get down on one knee. betty audibly gasped, heart stopping.

“oh my god, _what is happening_ , _what’s happening_ , _what’s happening?_ ”

“betty, please let me finish this at least,” archie chuckled.

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry." she held her hands up. "but i have to say something first. arch – the new el royale center. it’s in new york.”

archie gaped at her. “it’s _what_?”

“i’m sorry, it was the second part of the surprise! but now i’ve ruined _your_ surprise, and i realize now asking you to move to manhattan is asking you to uproot your whole life and it’s not fair if you don’t want that. and also i didn’t tell you this to change your mind about proposing i just wanted you to have all the info – ”

“betty.” he interrupted.

betty looked up from her desperate rambling. “yes?” she nervously tucked a hair behind her ear.

“that’s _amazing_ ,” archie grinned so brightly betty thought it could light up the whole town. “that’s literally the dream. and i _still_ wanna propose to you.”

“it is? you do?” she brightened visibly, cracking a small smile.

“yes!” he insisted. “can i _please_ finish now?”

“oh my gosh, i’m so sorry. i’m stopping. seriously. now.” she babbled nervously, finishing by pulling her fingers across her lips to indicate she was zipping them shut.

“betty cooper,” he started, fully on one knee, looking up at her earnestly. betty bit her lip furiously, just surprised she didn't draw blood. archie's voice shook, but he'd never been more sure. “will you marry me?”

betty nodded again and again, not sure what words she could say to convey _yes, yes, yes_.

“an answer would be nice,” he grinned.

“yes!” she screamed, running towards archie and crashing into him. “yes, yes, yes.” she kissed him fervently, ardently, going in again and again, an uncontrollable desire to be close, closer.

archie pulled back, betty frowning and instantly feeling colder. _why was he stopping? did he not want to marry her anymore?_

“wait! the ring!” of course they would forget the ring part of a _proposal_. archie reached into his jacket pocket, shyly bringing out a small marble, heart-shaped box. he opened it, displaying a ring from fifteen years ago, one encrusted with a shiny but fake ruby.

betty clasped her hands together. “oh my god. is that – you kept…?”

archie grinned. “a little bit.” he quickly turned anxious. “i have a backup in case you’re disappointed though, like a nicer, _real_ one – ”

“no, no, it’s perfect,” she cupped his face in her hands, kissing him softly. “it’s just crazy because…” she paused, pulling back reaching into her own coat pocket. she pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper, coffee-stained and apparently weathered from the passage of years. betty uncrumpled it, smoothing the wrinkles out the best she could. archie recognized the small, purposeful scribbles. it was his handwriting. his song for her. the last one he’d written before leaving, the one he had left at home.

“how did you…? i didn’t – ”

betty smiled, feeling a twinge of sadness that was impossible to push aside. “it was the only thing i found in your completely abandoned room when you left for the navy. i figured it was for me, so i kept it. i was never really able to get rid of it.” _she wasn’t just talking about the song._

“betts, i’m so sorry i never – ”

“arch, no,” she clasped his hands in hers. “this isn’t supposed to be an apology. it’s a promise. so what if we missed time? we have the rest of our lives to make it up.” she grinned, lacing her fingers behind his neck.

archie gently took betty’s hand, trying to slip the ring onto her finger. “um. well, it doesn’t fit on your ring finger.”

“but it’s perfect for my pinky!” betty reassured the boy, who was already starting to look panicked. she quickly grabbed it, sliding it onto her pinky finger.

it felt symbolic – destined. inevitable. by design. the ring, his proof of a love from the past, that had always been, and the song, her proof of a love in the present.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh them showing each other the ring and the song at the same time gave me taylor swift you belong with me music video vibes from the end where they both had the ily sign :') more to come <33


End file.
